The Revenge of Artemis Gridlock
by Cody Marcukaitis
Summary: A new series of Harry Potter fanfiction. Following the story of Artemis Gridlock, a boy with extroardinary power, but dark tendencies. Read as this boy's story intertwines with the genius of JK Rowling's world.
1. Humble Beginnings

Ch. 1-Humble Beginnings

This is the tale of a man, not just a man, a sorcerer and arguably one of the greatest and most powerful of his time. Even though his intentions were those of evil and revenge, still I sincerely believe that some good came out of his anguish. But behind every story of a great and powerful man lies more humble beginnings. Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore, and even He Who Must Not Be Named, all began their stories in the most simple of ways. A letter, from a magical school, acting as a gateway to a mystical world in which anything is possible, and with even the wave of a wand. A man could bring the world to its knees.  
>Artemis Thaddeus Gridlock was born on the Ides of March in 1961 and received his letter as does everyone, and two very proud parents stood and watched as their young son opened his letter for acceptance into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. One must wonder as their parents stood in swelling pride if they could ever have imagined what would become of their child. Would they believe it if it was told to them, but how could they know how anyone could know that wandering the halls of Hogwarts, was A soon to be a ticking time bomb waiting to burst.<br>Artemis or Arty as some of his few but good friends would call him, was as most great wizards, different. Although I wish to speak more of his time at Hogwarts little is known of his social life as he didn't appear to have much of one to begin with. More could be obtained from his best friend at Hogwarts but as he is...well...we shall get to that later. Because of his unusual ways of harnessing magical energies, it was apparent to everyone on the staff at Hogwarts that Artemis required special unique training.  
>Artemis possessed what is referred to as <em>antiquusmagicom<em> a very ancient form of magic that is very rare and seldom appears in children anymore. This made learning impossible for Artemis as he had a different way of casting spells and was much more advanced than others in his level. And because of his _antiquusmagicom_ his spells would have far greater and more powerful reactions. So simple a levitation spell would end up lifting everyone and everything in the room, and a simple disarming spell could quite literally take your arm off. Nevertheless, Artemis' parents sought the help of a private teacher who would be able to teach this kind of magic to him in a way that wouldn't cause harm to himself or others. They finally found a teacher who also possessed antiquusmagicom and was able to make Artemis his apprentice. The private teacher, Broderick Muldoon, taught him for many years and found that Artemis not only possessed "ancient magic" but also possessed an even more rare form of magic, so rare it has been seen but one other time in history. "Musica".

This form of magic allowed a wizard's wand to act as a kind of maestro's baton and conduct and make magic into music, and with this could will the music to do wonderful things, or terrible things.  
>Through his lessons with Broderick, Artemis learned to control his powerful type of magic and was also able to master musica. But every humble beginning has a not so humble ending, and thus begins the story of the revenge of Artemis Gridlock.<p>

~Cody Marcukaitis


	2. The Changing Tides

Ch. 2-The Changing Tides

It was a normal day, no different from most, although the days that change our lives seldom give a hint at the plans that fate has for us. Artemis' daily lessons with Broderick were close to an end, and Artemis was indeed happy to move one to greater heights of his magic, and to be out of Broderick's house and out from under his thumb forever.

"Have you practiced your Musica lately, Artemis", Broderick said, "I've noticed that you begin to loose focus from time to time."

"Well it's, just that...we only do happy music which of course produces happy results", Artemis replied. "Could we do something a bit more intense, and dark sounding, perhaps toccata fugue in D minor or Beethoven's 5th sym..."

"Artemis I have told you time and again, musica is a very dangerous type of magic. It can be used for wonderful things or terrible things; imagine the power you have in the hands of someone dangerous like Voldemort", Broderick explained. "And remember", Broderick added, "Just because the music is happy doesn't necessarily produce happy results, it's all about what you will the music to do, about the will of the caster, the song is merely a vessel."

It had been 17 years since Artemis' parents sought the help of Broderick Muldoon to assist in helping Artemis master his _antiquusmagicom, _or ancient magic, after only one year at Hogwarts. But Broderick loved Artemis, like a father loves his son, and because of this truth it was apparent that Broderick did not let Artemis explore the dangerous and destructive side of his rare magical abilities. He loved Artemis so much that he tried to deny what he saw in Artemis, seeing him for the first time when he was only twelve, Broderick tried ever so hard to put away what he saw in him. Through all the energy and spirit of a boy, Broderick saw a very dangerous man. Through all this, Artemis and Broderick had established a relationship of respect and friendship yet there was something that irked Artemis, he longed for more, as most young men do. Outside of their world a storm was brewing. The forces of evil were arising, led by someone so feared that the masses dare not speak his name. Voldemort was coming to power and Broderick had told Artemis all the terrible things Voldemort had done, and had explained how to be cautious of the dark lord; as he was always looking for young minds to corrupt.

However Artemis looked forward to the future as he would soon graduate as Broderick's apprentice and soon would be out from under his thumb forever.

"Let's try the Moonlight Sonata once more", Broderick said.

Artemis grumbled as he found this song boring, but than he found most of Broderick's selections to be unfulfilling. "And let's work with water today." He said as he got a bucket of water and placed on the table. Artemis knew this one by heart now and didn't even need his music. The sheets of music given to him by Broderick had turned into quite the collection, almost like a book of spells, all of which Artemis found completely useless, but not one to argue with his master he raised his wand, breathed deeply, and began conducting Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. It is regrettable that Artemis could not see how beautiful this magic truly was, it is a shame that he could not appreciate that he possessed a power unseen by the world for thousands of years. However this beauty was clouded over by Artemis' impatient spirit and the view of the rest of the world upon him. At Hogwarts he was viewed as a freak, a dangerous monster that might kill all of them at any moment, but things had changed for Artemis, finding Broderick was the best thing to happen to him, he just didn't know it. As he began the song, the water lifted from the bucket, and waved ever so gently, and as the song progressed the water formed into the shape of a small woman dancing on the water, a beautiful woman of the sea gently touching her toes to the water as if it were solid ground. And as she danced loops of water circled around her forming her own little sanctuary and she touched them as if they were her home, and she danced around her cave of water. The water than transformed and became a large sphere rising out of the bucket casting a shadow upon the woman and from the sphere it rained on the her, but when it seemed she would simply be destroyed by sadness, she danced in the rain and the sphere enveloped her within it, and she danced inside the sphere of water with all the joy in the world. Then as the song came to a close the whole sphere became a swirling jet of water that looped around Artemis than back into the bucket and than there was only the woman left, and with the closes she blew a kiss and descended into the water.

"Beautiful! Artemis absolutely beautiful!", Broderick exclaimed.

The clock chimes three o' clock. "Three already", Broderick said, "well you'll want to be off them Artemis, keep practicing and try to take real appreciation for your gift, there's no shame in creating beauty in this world, in fact, no more than now the world needs people like you who can make the world a little bit more beautiful." Artemis left on his way home mumbling, leaving Broderick with a pain in his stomach that would soon have just cause

"Maybe I don't want to make beautiful things."

Artemis was to practice his musica everyday at home, if he didn't Broderick would know, he always had a way of knowing these things, like a father often does. He was to practice outside in case something was to go awry. Artemis looked through his book of music Broderick had given him, to look for a new song, but there were no new songs only the songs he had come to view as dry and useless. As he picked up the book, loose pieces of parchment fell out of the book. It was music, but Broderick had never given this to him, and would never it was far too dark. It was Mozart's Requiem, and in the corner was written, "Try it".

Artemis was torn between his desire to try out the dangerous part of his power versus what Broderick had told him about slipping into darkness. He tried to convince himself that Broderick must have given this to him, how else would it get there? Although he knew this to be untrue he reluctantly yet gleefully placed the sheets on his music stand, raised his wand, breathed deeply, and began.

The piece began dark, lowly, and dreary, but with intensity, he thought about stopping but pressed on with curiosity in his heart, no turning back now. Suddenly it began to rain, not heavily yet but thick droplets making the pattering noise echoed by the open field of his village. The rain fell as if it was falling to match the song. Than with a great rumble and shaking the earth cracked open and from the void in the ground he could hear the chorus of the Sonata, bellowing loudly, creating the darkness he had come to want. It began to thunder, and lightning cracked and flashed nearby as the rain got heavier and heavier. Flames erupted from the earth and swirled around and around and the fire took the form of a large beast. Similar to a man but with horns and bright evil eyes that glowed as the fire they were made from the beast roared and delighted in its magnificence, and the beast swung its arms and blasted flames all around. In the distance tornadoes formed and the wind blew heavily, and it began to rain heavier and heavier. The great beast shot jets of flame from its mouth and hands and they swirled faster and faster becoming tornadoes of fire. Artemis looked at the magnificent scene of destruction that he saw before him. He smiled a great smile of delight, and laughed wildly at the power of this incredible show of power.

"What do you think you're doing?" The voice came from behind and was quite familiar; it was Broderick with a horrified expression. Artemis whipped around and his concentration was lost, and in one gust of wind his marvelous demonstration of magic was gone.

"I was just practicing", said Artemis. And after a pause he said, "How come you never told me I could do this?"

Broderick ignored his question; furiously he took the music and said, "Where did you get this?"

"You gave it to me", Artemis defended.

"Lies! I would never give you this, where did you get it?"

"I found it in my book", he said ignoring his disappointment. "Broderick did you see what I did, it was wonderful it was astounding, I felt so alive."

"Look around you!" Broderick said furiously, "look at the destruction you have created." Artemis looked around and saw with new eyes what he had done. Trees burnt down and destroyed other houses near by him were torn to shreds and singed by the fires.

"I...I didn't know" Artemis said. "Why didn't you tell me I could do this?"

"Who gave you this music?" Broderick said once again dodging his question.

"Answer me Muldoon! Artemis had a fire in his eyes, the same fire his master had come to fear, "Why did you never tell me I was capable of such wonder and magnificence"

"You call _this _magnificent! Look at what you've done! Homes, forests, crops burned to the ground all because of your silly experiment, becauseof your so called magnificent display!"

"You lied to me Broderick! You never told me about this about what I could do, about the real possibilities of musica"

"To protect you, to prevent this from ever happening, oh how I wished this day would never come."

"But look what I did, it was incredible the wind and the rain was so intense and the..."

"Don't you understand you foolish arrogant child! You have destroyed people's lives and for what? So you could feel empowered?"

Artemis stood in silence with Broderick standing, staring at him with disappointment. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to go try and reverse your wonderful mess." With that he disapparated and tried to use his spells to undue what Artemis had done. Artemis didn't know what to say he stood in silence at the horrible things he had done, and although Artemis felt remorse for the destruction he caused, he couldn't help but think with delight in his head, "What else am I capable of?"

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~Cody Marcukaitis


	3. The Hooded Stranger

Ch 3-The Hooded Stranger

Broderick cancelled lessons for the next day, which gave Artemis a lot of time to think, mostly about what he had done, but also about some unanswered questions. Who sent him the music? What else about his powers did he not know? And why did Broderick lie to him?

Artemis became increasingly aware of how serious his situation was. The Ministry of Magic had to be called down to assess the situation; to cleanup and repair the homes and farmland that was destroyed, and erase memories of those muggles who saw the destructive scene.

An owl flew into his window, Artemis recognized Broderick's owl, Finch, carrying a letter attached to a small cloth bag. Inside the bag was a familiar substance, flu powder, written on the letter was only "The Muldoon Cellar" Artemis knew what he had to do, he climbed into his fireplace. With a great shout he yelled "The Muldoon Cellar!" Than he threw the powder down and burst into a magnificent ball of emerald flames. When the flames ceased, Artemis found himself in a large cellar, dark, only lit by lamps attached to the arched columns in the room. All around in large long rows were enormous barrels, and there was a smell of musk and dust in the air, and out of the darkness stepped Broderick.

"My family owned this winery, I remember coming down here often to escape my parents, hundreds of gallons of wine reside down here, I even remember learning how to make wine...I hope you understand the seriousness of what you have done", Broderick said

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't!...speak." Just listen, the minister is furious, the fact that you are currently not locked up in Azkaban is only due to any pull I had left in the Ministry." Silence hovers over the room, than Broderick continues.

"Was anyone hurt", asked Artemis.

"Thankfully no, but i have to ask you Artemis, and you must tell me the truth. Who gave you the music?"

"I don't know"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Broderick immediately retracts himself, and Artemis is shocked, Broderick never raised his voice like that before.

"I'm sorry", Broderick said. "This whole thing is exactly what I feared for you, and now that it's happened...Artemis I just want to know how it happened"

"I'm sorry for the grief I caused you Broderick, but I really don't know, I just found the music in my portfolio."

"How did it get in there?"

"I don't know"

"Where did you go after lessons?"

"Nowhere"

"You're absolutely certain?"

"Yes"

"Then how did you get the music?"

"I don't know!"

"Why did you try a new piece by yourself?"

"I just wanted to..."

"To what? Feel alive? Thirteen homes were destroyed;Ayear's worth of crops were incinerated!"

"This is all your fault, Broderick!"

"My fault?"

"You lied to me Broderick, you never told me about what I was capable of!"

"To protect you!"

"To protect me from what?"

"FROM YOURSELF!" Once again the shadow of silence is cast over the two. "You have no idea the power you have inside you Artemis. To a person like Voldemort you are a nuclear weapon that he could twist and use to support his destructive campaign."

With much anger in his voice Artemis snapped, "I'm not an idiot Broderick! Nor am I a child! I can take care of myself"

"Can you now, because i think only an idiot would've tampered with magic he knows nothing about!"

Stupefy! Artemis shouted with immense anger. The charm screamed across the room and struck Broderick right in the chest sending him flying across the cellar and crashing into a giant barrel releasing a cascade of wine.

Broderick composed himself and struck back, "Inflatus!" With a bright blue flash Atemis was blown back and sent right into an arched column bouncing off of it like a rag doll. Artemis shook himselfoff and came to a stand. He pointed at the stands holding up the wine barrels and casted "Diffindo!" The wooden supports were cut and four enormous wine barrels came tumbling down and rolling toward Broderick.

As the barrels neared Broderick he shouted, "Reducto!" The barrels exploded with a flash of brilliant light spraying gallons of wine all over the room. The floor was now flooded with red wine and was rising as the two casted charms at one another and cracking the barrels and pouring wine from their numerous holes. The wine had risen above their ankles and it sloshed around as they ran about the room.

"Enough of this!"Shouted !

Artemis was immediately incased in a large sphere of the wine that covered the floor, the wine crested and encircled Artemis, and somehow he could still breathe even though he was surrounded by liquid as if he was drowning

"Enough of this Artemis, enough",Broderick said with a stern but calming voice. "I never wanted this for you. I loved you like a son Artemis", Broderick raised his wand, Corripi...

Expeliarmus! A voice from another side of the room shouted sending Broderick hurling aside and hitting the wall. With his concentration broken Artemis fell and the sphere collapsed releasing him. Artemis lied weak on the ground and lifted his head and looked around for the voice that casted the spell, but his vision was blurred from the wine burning in his eyes.

Broderick composed himself, and looked at where the spell had come from. Broderick's eyes grew wide and said, "You!"

Broderick casted a charm at the mystery person and it was deflected. Artemis could not see him as he hid in the shadows, and he heard the unseen sorcerer "Incendio!" He shot flames at the wine igniting the entire surface of the fluids that flooded the room. Artemis turned over and shielded himself he saw the room filled with flames, but he did not feel them. He had no idea how, but he looked just in time to see the unknown person ascend the stairs and disappear out of site. He turned and saw Broderick fighting off the flames as best he could, and just as Broderick linked eyes with Artemis, Broderick's arm caught fire and he flung frantically screaming trying to save himself.

"Why do I not burn?" Artemis thought to himself. Just then he felt arms wrap around his shoulders and in an instant they disapparated.

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Artemis had never disapparated before, as soon as they stopped Artemis dropped to his knees and vomited, he felt as if his insides had been turned out.

"You'll get used to that", said the hooded stranger.

Artemis whirled around to see a man standing in a black cloak, a hood casting an everlasting shadow across his face. His voice was dark sounding but filled with mystery. Artemis couldn't help but feel the utmost curiosity toward the man. He had many questions, the most obvious of which being;

"Who are you?" The man stood straight as an arrow.

"I am a friend, more i am a guardian, looking out for you and trying to protect you."

"Protect me from what?"

A slight pause than he spoke these words with assurance in his cause, "From Broderick Muldoon", the stranger said.

"I don't understand", Artemis replied with confusion.

"You must believe me and understand me when I say this, Broderick Muldoon has been using you Artemis."

At this point Artemis didn't even question how the stranger knew his name.

"What do you mean?"

"You come from a long line of witches and wizards do you not, as i understand the Gridlock family has been a proud wizarding family for over 300 years."

"Yes", Artemis said in agreement.

"And if I'm not mistaken the Muldoon family runs a muggle owned winery, his mother is a muggle, therefore...he is a half-blood"

Artemis was taken aback; he took a step away from the stranger and spoke the next words with innocent defense, "What's wrong with half-bloods?" The stranger replied with sincerity. "Oh nothing really, we just believe that certain restrictions should be in place."

"What kind of restrictions?"

"Well Artemis you are a pure-blood, both of your parents are magical born, it stands to reason then that because Broderick has only a wizard father you are twice as powerful as him." Artemis stands silent for a moment taking this in.

"I guess that makes sense." Artemis said.

"But because your whole family is pure blood, why I say that you may be fifty times more powerful than him."

"Well I do possess antiquusmagicom, and musica."

"There you are you see, who is he, a mud-blood to teach a great sorcerer like you...you should be teaching him."

"Yeah I should, shouldn't I?"

"Absolutely, he has always held you back, kept you from unlocking your true power. And that Artemis, is because he is jealous! He desires your power."

"Yeah", Artemis said agreeing with every word the stranger said.

"When I saved you in the winery, he was about to cast the Corripio Curse on you."

"That was you in the cellar, but what does this curse do?"

"It allows a wizard to steal the powers of another wizard and absorb them, he was trying to steal away your power and take it for his own."

Artemis stumbled back, shocked at this news, that Broderick had not only lied to him, but betrayed him as well. He believed he had a sense of "I knew it" about him. He grew angry and bitter toward Broderick and now all his unanswered questions about the night he played Requiem were answered in one fell swoop. He understood why he was never allowed to try new music and why Broderick never allowed him to do anything destructive. And now with Broderick trying to steal away his powers Artemis now had a very different view of his teacher Broderick Muldoon. Artemis snapped out of his angry fantasy when the stranger spoke again.

"I can teach you, how to use your power to its full potential, and how to become a great sorcerer." Artemis pondered this thought; he obviously is a good man who is very wise and powerful.

"Yes, I'll do it, I'll become your apprentice."

"Excellent", said the stranger.

Artemis' head whirled with the thought of new possibilities finally a chance to achieve my full greatness with no one to hold me back. Artemis rejoined reality for a moment to ask one final unanswered question

"Sir, not that I am ungrateful for what you have done for me, but I must know...Who are you?"

The man slowly pulled back his hood, well Artemis did feel some relief when the man looked normal, no horns or anything just a normal looking man. He was tall, and handsome looking, he had a very pronounced jaw and a tall face to accompany it. He had a rigid stature and broad shoulders. His hair was deep brown and was combed into a messy part; he had a sinister looking smile, the stranger extended out his hand.

"Please to meet you Artemis Gridlock, my name is Tom."


	4. A Snake In The Grass

Ch. 4-A Snake In The Grass

Not many people in this world can actually sense when they're shaking hands with the Devil, and Artemis is no acception. This meeting with the stranger known as Tom would forever change his fate and lead him down a path that Broderick had worked so many years to prevent. But every step Broderick had taken to protect Artemis inevitably led to this one moment , the moment Artemis would meet the most dangerous and evil sorcerer of all time, and he didn't even know it.

"Shall we begin", Tom said.

"What?" Artemis replied.

"Your training, I said I would teach you, teach you everything that Broderick denied you for so long. Are you ready to experience your full potential and fell absolute power?"

"Yes", Artemis said with excitement and wonder to this man who had promised him the moon and the stars, "But what about Broderick?"

"What about him? The filthy mud-blood gets what he deserves, let him burn."

"Yeah", Artemis said with a smug smile.

"Then let us begin", Tom held out this hand and Artemis took hold, than they instantly were gone, apparating. Once again when their whirl had resided Artemis felt his stomach turn inside out and he vomited again as before. When he picked up his head he found himself outside a magnificent mansion, a large fence ran around it and hedges made a tall corridor to the front gate and encircled the grounds. The large mansion was dark beige with black shingles and shutters and Artemis thought that a very wealthy man must live here. In the dark of the night the building looked terribly evil, but Artemis couldn't help but feel comfortable with this setting, as if he'd been looking for his home for years and finally had found one. The mansion had large dark columns bordering the front entrance and was at least three floors, with a grand front entrance and hundreds of windows. Large towers pierced the sky with dark shingles and in a room on the ground floor a light could be seen, flickering in the night, with smoke arising from the chimney, it must be a fireplace. Tom led Artemis to the front gate on which a large "M" in cursive lettering was casted onto the front gate. With a wave of his wand, Tom opened the front gate and walked with Artemis in tow. As they entered Artemis saw two large staircases rounding out the room leading up to a large balcony overlooking the foyer. The floor was black and white tile and marble walls encased the room in traditional Aristocracy. A deep booming voice came from the room to the right.

"Tom, glad to see you", Artemis looked to the right and saw a man standing in front of a grand fireplace in a grand main room, with Victorian furniture and all of it as dismal and dark as the outside of the mansion. A roaring fire behind the man gave him a tall shadow across the floor and made his face hard to see, but he could see that he stood like a bear, large broad shoulders and a mighty chest. Tom led Artemis to the front room and he saw more of the room. Suits of armor standing at the entrance, portraits on the wall all of which moved as if alive, Artemis recalls seeing paintings like these at Hogwarts. Bookshelves lined the other side of the room and a grand archway between the bookcases led to another room, too dark to see inside. Above the fireplace two large swords hung on the wall with a large shield covering it. The shield has a crest on it with a large "M" in the middle; Artemis wonders again what the significance of this "M" is. The shield is green, black, and gray with dragons on either side. A banner under it inscribes "_sanctimonia vincet semper"_. As Artemis mouths the words the man from whom the greeting came from, spoke.

"It means purity always conquers, how do you do my name is Abraxas Malfoy, welcome to Malfoy Manor. " He extended his hand.

"Thank you Mr. Malfoy", Artemis said humbly. Artemis stood in amazement at the stature of this man, as his silhouette depicted he had very broad shoulders. His face was weathered, but smooth and he had a pronounced chiseled jaw which matched his face. He had a mustache and a beard not long but trimmed; all his hair was white blonde and his hair was short with a part. He had on a black suit with pronounced white pinstripes a black shirt and an emerald green ascot tie with a large silver stick pin shining brightly in the center, His green pocket square had the same emblem on the shield the "M". He stood as a general in his prime and had a mighty hand shake

"It's a pleasure to meet you Artemis; we are very excited to have you with us." Just than a little boy no more than five with bleach blonde hair rushed into the room and ran to Abraxas' and hugged his leg.

"Will you read me a story papa" said the little boy looking up at his father.

"Be gone with you boy, we have company, and I have business to attend to."

"Just one papa, I can't go to sleep without a story."

"Then I'm afraid it's going to be a long night for you, now be gone!"

"Please, papa", his father cuts him off booming his voice into the other room calling for someone.

"Adora!" A few moments later a woman came into the room, she was beautiful, absolutely stunning; the world seemed to stop and stare as she entered the wore a long black dress with a green band under her bust. She hadlong radiant blonde hair and bright green eyes, but she was young, perhaps the nanny, although a little overdressed

"Yes dear?" Dear? These two are husband and wife?

"Adora meet Artemis Gridlock our newest friend and ally", said Abraxas with a certain sense of pride. "Artemis, meet my wife Adora Malfoy."

"How do you do Artemis, how wonderful for you to join our cause, welcome to our home."

"Thank you", Artemis said politely. Artemis could sense the timidness in her voice as if she was afraid to talk out of turn; it almost felt as though her greeting was scripted

"Adora take Lucius upstairs and put him to bed, I can't have him bothering me while conducting business."

"Yes dear", she said with assurance, as she scooped up little Lucius and took him out of the room. Artemis couldn't believe that this young beautiful creature could be the wife of a large older man. Abraxas had to be at least twice her age.

"Please Mr. Gridlock have a seat." Abraxas motioned to a high back chair and Artemis sat down. Abraxas took a seat in the chair opposite him and Tom remained standing pacing across the room and gazing at the fireplace. "I bet your wondering exactly what you have the chance to be a part of here."

"You called me your ally", Artemis said with puzzlement.

"Yes, and hopefully we'll be able to become great colleagues." Tom glanced at Artemis, he had a smirk than he glanced back into the fire. Abraxas took a moment to use his wand to pour himself a drink, it all came together like a puzzle, the decanter floated over the glass as three ice cubes came into the glass than the glass gently hovered over to Abraxas. "What do you know about half-bloods?"

"Not much, just that one or both of their parents are muggles." Artemis said innocently.

"Did you know what an abomination they are?" Abraxas said with impending fury.

"I don't understand."

"Artemis mud-bloods are polluting everything that great wizards have worked so hard to perfect and purify."

"What do you mean?"

"Would you say that magical beings like us are superior to muggles?" Artemis thought about this for a second. The thought had never really crossed his mind. He knew that he was never supposed to do magic in front of a muggle, but never thought he was superior to them, he found reassurance in this thought.

"Yes, yes we are."

"Than by that standard, does it not seem an abomination for a witch or wizard to mate with a muggle and spread their inferior DNA among our kind?" Artemis thought less about this thought."

"A complete abomination sir, but what does this have to do with me?"

"More and more witches and wizards are mating with muggles, there polluting our society and our way of life, soon powerful wizards like us and our proud families will be no more." A pause hovers in the room. Tom walked to behind Mr. Malfoy's chair and put his hands on both sides. "What we want you to do Artemis; is to join our noble cause, and help us stop half-bloods from destroying what we deserve." Tom chimed in.

"You are indeed a very powerful wizard Artemis, we could use your enormous power in destroying every mud-blood pretender what calls himself wizard or witch." Abraxas added.

"Striking fear into all those who seek to infect all our ancestors created with their filth."

"And why stop there", Tom said. "Why not go on to wipe out muggles all together."

"Populate the earth with pure-blood wizards and witches like us, make the world pure." Than Abraxas raised his glass and together he and Tom shouted, "Purity always conquers!" Artemis smiled and nodded his head in agreement, as he rose Abraxas said, "Say it Artemis."

"Purity always conquers, Artemis said.

"Again"

"Purity always conquers."

"Yes, yes again"

"Purity Always Conquers", than all three of them chimed in.

"Purity always conquers!" With a laugh Abraxas drank the rest of his drink and said, "Half-bloods are nothing but muggles with sticks."

"Indeed Abraxas", said Tom.

"When do we begin?" said Artemis.

"It's late you'll need some rest for tomorrow, for tomorrow you start your training. Tom will be your new teacher, and you'll use the grounds here to practice." Then he called as before, "Adora!" Adora entered once more.

"Yes Abraxas", she said.

"Show Mr. Gridlock to his room", Abraxas said.

"Yes darling, come with me Artemis." Adora led Artemis out to the foyer and climbed up the stair and ascended to the top floor. Tom and Abraxas were now alone. Adora took Artemis to a tall tower opening the door she said.

"This is where you will be staying, Dobby!" A small house elf dressed in rags came through the door. He was a pathetic small creature who entered with shyness and fear as if any moment he may be punished for something.

"Yes mum?" Dobby said.

"Make sure Artemis here is comfortable and cater to his needs."

"Of course mum." Dobby exits the room with timid silence.

"You'll find everything you'll need in here", Artemis looked around and saw a large bed and a dresser,he had a large window overlooking the grounds, even his own fireplace. Next to the fireplace was a large shelf filled to the ceiling with parchment. Adora explained.

"That's music Artemis, all we could get our hands on, and you'll find we brought all your clothes over and even got you some new ones. We had to guess your sizes but were pretty sure we got it right"

"Thank you very much Mrs. Malfoy."

"Call me Adora."

"Thank you Adora." There was a brief silence. Artemis caught Adora looking down than up surveying all of him.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, anything at all?" As she said this she ran her hand across his chest and down his side. She spoke with such seduction in her voice tempting Artemis like a siren of the sea,

"Well…uh…no…no I think I'm ok" Artemis said nervously

"Well I'm just down the hall, call if you need me", She placed her hand on his cheek and ran her finger down his neck than back up to his chin and exited with a wink. Artemis didn't want to think too much about what had just happened. Although it almost seemed unreal that a gorgeous woman like her would take an interest in him. He surveyed his room again and as before had this sense of belonging and purpose rush through him and he felt home."

Downstairs Abraxas and Tom were still talking.

"Is everything in place?" Abraxas said.

"Yes, sir it is. I brought him this far didn't I", Tom replied.

"We'll have to be careful; Muldoon will no doubt come for him, or report this to the ministry."

"I wouldn't worry too much."

"Tom the last thing we need here is a group of auras invading my home."

"Muldoon has no idea where we even are."

"The ministry has ways of finding out, and with all the magic that boy must be radiating he must be like a blimp on a bloody map. Be cautious during his lessons, and don't reveal too much about my plans to him we don't want to scare him off."

"We've already introduced the idea of genocide to him, if that doesn't scare him off what will?"

"You know what he must do in the end."

"Yes sir I do, and believe me he will not succeed."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I have some ideas; do not worry yourself sir, all is going according to plan.


	5. Behind The Veil

Ch. 5-Behind the Veil

Artemis hardly slept a wink, feeling almost like a child waking up Christmas morning; however more things kept him up than just his excitement to begin his new training under Tom. Many thoughts raced through his mind and they were at the mercy of an entire night in which to analyze them. How was he so well known among these people? What was he there to do? And why couldn't he get Adora out his head. He go out of bed, he was amazed at how hospitable the Malfoy family was. The pajamas he was wearing were black silk and had purple vertical stripes, his favorite color. They even had "AG" embroidered on the front under his left shoulder, in cursive script; he rather liked all this personal attention he was receiving, as if he were a king of his own personal domain. He looked through his drawers he found brand new clothes, in his closet there were pressed suits and pants and matching vests. All black, some pinstripe some plain, he found neckties, he had never really worn all these kinds of dress clothes before, but he had always wanted to, and he suddenly found himself with a whole closetful of them. Most of what he had was black and purple. How did they know his favorite color was purple? He found new shoes, hats, robes, cloaks, and even a pocket watch with his initials etched on the back. In a separate trunk he found some of his older clothes, his more casual clothes, although some were new. Artemis realized that all of this was probably some form of bribery to make him stay or do whatever else he wanted him to do. But he didn't care, it was working.

He got dressed in some of his jeans, he threw on one of his new black dress shirts, it was soft and shiny silk, he threw a vest over it and one of his new purple ties, and a pair of dark jeans. He looked himself over in the tall mirror across his large bedroom he gave a smile, he looked cool. He gave a small giggle at this thought of thinking himself cool. He felt incredibly parched just as heard a dragging sound outside his door, it was the Malfoy's house elf, although his name escaped him. He was dragging four giant cloth bags with all his might, they were clearly too large for his small stature to carry by himself. With politeness Artemis said as he passed his door.

"Excuse me uh…Dobby." The house elf let go of the bags knocking him over

"Yes sir", said Dobby.

"Do you think you could bring me a glass of water when you get the chance my mouth is awfully dry."

"Of course sir!" With great urgency he scrambled up and ran down the hall toward the staircase. Artemis went after him stepping into the hallway and calling to him.

"You don't have to do it now whenever you get the chance is alright", The panicked house elf called back.

"Be right back Master Gridlock!"

"Master?"Artemis thought out loud, he had never been called master by anyone; he wasn't exactly pleased with it either,especially because it comes at the expense of this poor creature. In no time at all the frenzied house elf came rushing into his room panting holding a tall glass of water. He was going so fast that when he stopped himself he spilled a little water on Artemis' pants. Artemis backed up a bit and brushed at the spot. With panicked fear the house elf apologized.

"I'm so very sorry Master Gridlock, please forgive me I'll punish myself." Without missing a beat Dobby began banging his head against Artemis' dresser yelling."Bad Dobby, Bad Dobby!" Artemis was now juggling a glass of water and trying to restrain this creature from harming itself. It was a balancing act fit for a circus, eventually the house elf stopped. Artemis regained his composure and took a deep breathe.  
>"I'm terribly sorry sir!"<p>

"It's alright really, really it's alright"

"I'll wash those right away."

"It's alright, It's just water it'll dry in a few minutes." Despite Artemis attempts to calm Dobby down he kept acting hysterical. Eventually Artemis had to grab him and talk softy to him.

"Dobby, calm down, it's alright, it's just water", Dobby calmed down with a deep breath, he apologized again than dragged himself head down out the door. "Dobby you don't have to do something right away when I ask unless it's an emergency." Dobby nodded. "Dobby, what is that you're carrying?"

"Laundry sir, the Malfoy families clothes to be washed."

"Would you like some help?"

"Help?"

"Yeah, I'm heading downstairs anyway I could carry some down." Dobby stared at Artemis than his eyes welled up and he began bawling heavily. Artemis rolled his eyes as he had done something else to send him spiraling into hysteria again.

"Dobby, stop crying it's alright. What is the matter with you?"

"Sorry sir, it's just no one has ever asked Dobby for help."

"Well I suppose there's a first time for everything. C'mon I'll help you." Artemis went out into the hallway grabbed three of the four bags and threw them over his shoulder. Dobby carried the one much easier over his shoulder.

"So how long have you worked here, for the Malfoys I mean?"

"Since birth sir, Dobby was born into slavery here."

"Sorry about that."

"Dobby can only be freed if his master presents him with clothes."

"Well I hope that one day you win your freedom." Dobby smiled as they made their way into the basement of Malfoy manor where there were many bags like the ones he was carrying lying about, and a giant bucket of water in the middle of the room.

"Do you have to wash all this yourself?"

"It's not so bad sir, Dobby likes washing clothes." Just than the familiar booming voice of Abraxas Malfoy bellowed from upstairs,

"Dobby!" Dobby dropped his bag of clothes and rushed up the stairs, Artemis followed Dobby to the dining room where Abraxas stood like a mighty oak tree. "Ah there you are Artemis we were just about to send for you." His mood changed when he spoke to Dobby, "You! Go see to breakfast now!"

"Yes, Master Malfoy." Dobby rushed out of the room to the kitchen.

"Artemis come with me", said Abraxas. Artemis was lead outside to the courtyard in the back of the mansion where there were statues all around of wizards and witches. They all had inscriptions under them, all of which had the last name Malfoy. Artemis was lead to a table on the back porch of the house. "Please Artemis have a seat. Artemis sat down at the circular table, to his right was Adora smiling at him as he sat, and to his left was the little boy from last night, Lucius. Across from him was Abraxas sitting up as straight as a column. Adora greeted him with her normal soothing voice.

"Good morning Artemis, did you sleep alright?"

"Oh yes I did, thanks very much for your hospitality, it's quite wonderful here." Artemis looked out from the terrace to the back grounds of the manor, a very large estate indeed. As he circled his view it stopped at the little boy who was peering at him slouched over and swinging his legs under the table.

"Hi", said the little boy.

"Hi", said Artemis back.

"Im Lucius, I'm five years old", the cute child held up five fingers boasting about his age.

"Really", said Artemis with fake wonderment. Artemis had used this kind of talk when he looked after Broderick's nephew sometimes. Strange that he hadn't thought of Broderick since…He quickly shook the thought out of his head. Dobby came rushing out of the house with trays of food and set them down at the table than rushed off.

"Do you have a wand?" Said Lucius with innocent curiosity, Abraxas cut him off.

"Lucius leave Artemis alone, and sit up straight." The boy straightened himself up.

"It's alright Mr. Malfoy, I don't mind. Yeah I have a wand." Artemis pulled out his wand and showed it to little Lucius who lit up at the sight of it. As Lucius looked at it Abraxas spoke.

"Excellent looking wand you have there, Dragon Heart Strings?"

"Yes sir it is." Lucius gave back Artemis his wand.

"When I'm twelve I'm gonna get my wand, from Oliver's." His mother corrected.

"Olivander's dear"

"And I'm gonna get a wand like Papa's in a snake stick."

Abraxas gave a subtle grin, than showed his cane, black wood with a silver snake head on top with green jeweled eyes than took the snake head off with his wand attached to it. Like a sword hidden in a walking stick. He handed it to Lucius whose eyes were like fireworks admiring the wand. He waved it and one of the statues in the courtyard exploded. Abraxas whipped around and gave Lucius a deadly glare.

"Dobby!" Abraxas bellowed. Dobby came running. "Take Lucius to the tower and lock him in there for the rest of the day. I'll deal with him later." Dobby walked next to Lucius and led him away. As the poor child was being brought back into the manor Artemis felt something brush up against his leg, he looked to his left and saw Adora smiling at him with her chin resting on her hands, and her forearms pushed together pronouncing her breasts. Artemis caught himself staring at her; he was snapped out of it by a great whoosh, as a black cloud of smoke rushed by and landed in the courtyard. When it settled the figure of Tom stepped out, dressed this time in a long black cloak, and a vest with a green tie. He recognized the necktie; the tie of Slytherin house.

"Good morning Abraxas, Adora, Artemis. " Tom said as he made his way to the terrace table.

"Good morning Tom", said Abraxas. "Now that you are here; Artemis, you and Tom can begin your training. Artemis looked at Tom who flashed him a smile, Artemis flashed one back and got up from the table and followed Tom through the courtyard. They walked through the whole courtyard, and finally past a small forest leading to a large open area. Surrounding them were the remains of some large stone building. To his right was a large lake of clear blue water andall around the plane were oil torches, large stands with big hanging bowls; probably for practicing at night, than Artemis asked.

"What is this place?"

"This is where the ancient Malfoy family used to live; Castle Malfoy." Tom surveyed the area, "Did you bring your music?"

"Yes", Artemis said with excitement. "I brought a song I've wanted to try for years." Tom waved his wand in front of Artemis and vines erupted from the ground, twisted together, it became a platform and took the shape of a music stand. Artemis placed his music on the newly created stand, took out his wand, breathed deeply, and began.

The first four notes were familiar to anyone; the infamous Beethoven's 5th Symphony. As the long note was struck all the torches that surrounded the area burst with brilliant crimson fire, setting the scene to unfold, with the next four famous notes the flames shot high into the air as the sky darkened, clouds rolled in and the light of the morning disappeared and all that remained was the shadow of darkness. As the music retreated flames from the torches crept to the center of the scene. The flames swirled higher and higher as the music grew louder and louder, the flames took the form of a giant man of solid fire, like glowing wood in a fire withembers glowing brightly. He was more than a man, a knight, dressed in fiery armor and hair that was flowing flames. He raised his sword to the sky and pierced the dark sky. When the music again retreated the water from the lake swirled to the center and the knight of fire stood back as in the middle the shape of a man of water took form, freezing as it grew, until he was a giant man of ice, a knight as well. The triumphant fanfare of the song gave a hopeful feeling as the knight of ice took form standing triumphantly in the center. His pride was ended by the fire knight who showed his power by spraying the surrounding trees with fire, while the ice knight countered by extinguishing the forest with cold ice. The music went back and forth with the two knights expressing their power to one another. Finally as those same four notes rang out the two men drew their swords and as they clanged together steam sprayed all around the plane. They punched, kicked and swung their mighty swords. The music grew and grew and suddenly retreated as the knight of fire disarmed the knight of ice, whose sword flew out of his hands and stabbed into the ground. The knight of ice stumbled back, hopeless and unarmed. The music picked up with the familiar notes repeating again and again and with the final note the knight of fire plunged his sword into the knight of ice who exploded sending large chunks of ice flying all over. The head of the ice knight flew right to Tom who with a wave of his wand deflected it and it shattered. The fire man disappeared with a whirl of wind and the sky returned to the light of the morning and the torches were put out with the gust of wind that took the fire knight.

"Bravo Artemis", said Tom with a large open faced smile. Artemis said nothing he just grinned at what he had done although this time he wasn't interrupted and felt no remorse for his brilliant creation. "Well done Artemis, but if you're going to weaponize your talent you'll have to explore the destructive side of your magic, not just make pretty scenes. Well start that tomorrow. For now look over your music.

And Artemis did just that, he spent his time in his room reading over his music, picking out which ones he wanted to try and studied them and thought of what he would will the music to do. When down the hall he heard a terrible scream that alarmed him. He walked quietly down the hall and to a small spiral staircase leading upstairs. As he climbed he heard the terrible scream again, a high pitched scream, at the top of the staircase was a hallway with a door at the end and a door to the right. As he walked down the corridor he saw through the crack of the door and saw Abraxas standing over his son Lucius, Abraxas had his jacket off and held his cane in his hand. The child sat on the floor crying wildly as Abraxas raised his stick and began beating the boy. Lucius' screams made Artemis look away. He couldn't help but notice how sweltering it was up here. It must be hell to be locked up here not to mention being beaten by someone. Abraxas stopped his vicious beating and pulled his wand out of his cane.

"This ought to teach you to behave, Crutio!" Never ending screams pierced through the corridor and plagued Artemis' ears. The young child thrashed on the floor and screamed and cried with horrifying volume. Artemis had heard of the unforgivable curses but had never seen anyone use them. Just as Artemis thought about interjecting Abraxas stopped. He put his wand back and wiped the sweat from his brow, grabbed his jacket and made for the door without another word. Artemis quickly hid in the other room and watched as Abraxas made his way out of the room,locked the door, and headed down the stairs. Artemis could hear the poor child still weeping. He unlocked the door and walked into the room and Lucius looked up at him with horrible pain in his eyes. Artemis kneeled down next to him and saw just what his father had done to him. He had cuts and bruises on his arms face and back, and although the cruciatus curse doesn't leave a mark, it is no doubt the worse pain anyone could possibly feel. Artemis knew that words were useless right now, but he felt he must say something.

"Hey, hey don't cry, no more crying, shhhshhhshhh." Artemis held little Lucius close to him and the boys tears soaked through his shirt, slowly he began to calm down and the pain was receding. "You must be thirsty, huh?" Little Lucius nodded his head, as Artemis took the chair Abraxas laid his coat over. "Augamenti." Artemis casted water from his wand into the little seat of the chair that formed a small basin. He helped prop up Lucius and leaned him over the chair to drink. Artemis leaned Lucius against the wall when he finished drinking, and pointed his wand at him. Lucius immediately recoiled then Artemis assured him. "I'm not going to hurt you I promise, you trust me?" Lucius nodded.

"Sano curatio, sano curatio, sano curatio", as Artemis repeated the incantation with a soft voice, the bruises faded and the cuts sealed shut. "I'm sorry but I have to go", Lucius lurched forward and hugged him.

"Don't go!" Lucius begged.

"I'm sorry but I have to, If your Dad finds out I'm here, we'll both be in trouble okay, but I'll see you soon, when he lets you out okay, and you come visit me any time." Lucius wiped the tears and sniffled. Artemis raised his wand near his face and casted, "Sopor." A blue smoke emitted from his wand and as Lucius inhaled it he fell into a calming deep sleep. As much as it killed Artemis he left the room and with great hesitation locked the door. Artemis made his way back to his room and sat thinking about his life. He had loving parents; a teacher who at least he believed cared for him. As Artemis thought of that poor boy, tortured by his own father, he laid down, and for the first time in a great while, cried.


	6. The Premiere

Ch. 6-The Premiere

For the next four weeks things had taken to routine, Artemis would go to training after breakfast with Tom; afterwards he would stay in his room and study his music until lunch. After lunch he would take a walk around the grounds with Lucius and Artemis would look after him and spend time with him in the small forest within Malfoy Manor. The less time Lucius was around his father the better, then after supper Dobby would usually visit him unless he was swamped with chores. Sometimes Tom would ask for an evening training session, and then off to bed. There were only a few incidences in which Lucius angered his father, but most times Artemis could convince Abraxas to leave him in his charge so he would "behave". Other times he wasn't so fortunate, Lucius spent a night or two in the tower. Both times Artemis came to comfort him, only once Abraxas lost control Artemis used the imperious curse on him to convince him to stop. Lucius became somewhat of a caretaker, like a big brother to Lucius, and Artemis came to love Lucius as such. But as before Artemis began to grow restless and was anxious to do what he was brought here for. It was an early Sunday morning when Artemis got his wish.

Tom came to his room while he was studying music; Tom surveyed his room with satisfaction.

"Nice quarters you have here Artemis, much better than the dormitories at Hogwarts."

"I wouldn't really know, I wasn't there long." Responded Artemis.

"That's right, what house were you in for your short time?"

"Ravenclaw, I'll assume you were in Slytherin." Tom gave a stare with a short pause.

"Why would you assume that?" Artemis pointed his pencil at him.

"The tie you wore yesterday, is it not the tie of Slytherin house?" Tom looked down than gave a sigh of some relief than chuckled to himself.

"I see, very observant." There was a short pause before Artemis asked.

"Tom, what is your last name?" Tom gave Artemis a curious stare.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well everyone has a last name, just curious." Tom looked down and gave a sigh of somewhat disappointment.

"Not me", Tom said. "Now prepare yourself, tonight we give you your first assignment." Artemis lifted his head up in disbelief.

"What is it?"

"Tonight, were attacking a muggle city."

"I thought we were attacking mud-bloods."

"Are muggles not just as bad as mud-bloods, besides this is a city of mud-bloods who renounce the ways of magic and choose to live as muggles." Tom said this with a certain sense of disgust, "We will send a clear message with this attack." Artemis thought about his assignment, but found reassurance in the cause he was helping. "Tonight we will bring their city to its knees." Tom left and Artemis pondered his assignment. It wasn't what he expected, he didn't know what to expect, but it was the start of something new, and he was excited. And he knew just what song he was going to use.

Artemis prepared himself in his room all day pacing, thinking, and studying his music. When night fell he readied himself, dressing in his very best. A pinstripe black suit, with a purple tie and a black shirt, and he put on his long black cloak he looked himself in the mirror as before, he felt more than cool, he felt powerful, dangerous. He was ready. Adora caught him looking himself over.

"Very dapper I must say." Artemis turned to see Adora standing in his doorway, dressed in a beautiful, Celtic green dress with long hanging sleeves and her necklace shining brightly. She walked to him, "I just wanted to wish you good luck." She kissed him, for what seemed an eternity of bliss. He didn't know what to think, and he didn't care, he didn't think about it, he just closed his eyes and enjoyed what was happening. When she stopped, she smiled and turned around and strolled out the room. When she left Artemis smiled bigger than he ever had, he gave a jump of joy and a silent "Yes".

He left his room shortly after, and stood on the balcony overlooking the foyer, where Abraxas and Tom were quarrelling.

"You know I've always trusted your judgment Tom, but I don't know about this."

"Sir, do not worry he has been trained well."

"I'm not concerned about his training, what about his nerves." Tom says nothing. Abraxas speaks again. "Is he ready to kill hundreds of people?"

"I am", both men looked up and saw Artemis standing above them, he made his way down the stairs and met the two men. Tom looked at Artemis with a smile; Abraxas soon had a smile as well than he said.

"Very well" Adora made her way down the stairs. Than all of them went out the front door, and looked at the night sky. "Follow us." All of them erupted into black smoke and zoomed through the night sky. This had taken some time to master and Artemis still didn't have a full grip on it either. They finally landed on a hillside, a tall cliff-side overlooking a city. No skyscrapers like London, only houses and some businesses, but a large town, a lighted factory was at the far end of the city. It was late enough for the street lamps to light the city, but some houses were still lit, others were dark, and it was quiet, peaceful. Artemis gazed over the city he was meant to destroy. On the hill were people Artemis did not know, Abraxas told him they were other members of their cause and wanted to see his brilliance. Tom approached Artemis and whispered into his ear.

"You know what to do, you're ready", Artemis nodded. There was a beat of silence as the chirping of crickets was heard "Make us proud", Tom stepped back. Artemis snapped his fingers and out popped his music stand the Malfoys had bought for him, conjure able. He laid his music on it, and opened to the first page revealing the title. 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky, Tom smiled than stepped back with the others who were watching with likewise excitement. Artemis took out his wand, breathed more deeply than he ever had, and began.

He began near the crescendo of the song, and as the booming sound of the brass was heard, a glorious triumphant anthem rang out through the city. The lights of the houses began to turn on, and people could be seen looking out their windows and stepping out from their doors at the curious music. The music rang out louder than before a slow but loud fanfare, like a grand army near victory, or a giant stomping slowly. Fireworks shot out from all around the city and all the people looked up to see this grand show, oohs and ahs were heard in a loud chorus, and as the colorful explosions continued they even began applauding, not knowing the imminent danger that was ahead. The music grew and grew and as it reached the crescendo the applause suddenly stopped with the first explosion. A house in the distance exploded with bright fire when the music's tempo grew fast and the slow triumph became a fast charge. The explosions happened all around, homes being destroyed in seconds fire blowing high into the sky as the random blasts swept across the city. People ran and screamed in terror, confusion ran rapid and panic overcame all those who witnessed their homes exploding in flames. Glass shattered, rubble flew, and people were flung by the eruptions and laid dead. The upbeat song was a grand foil for the horrifying destruction that ran across this peaceful city. Some attempted to escape with their cars, but balls of fire began raining down from the sky exploding cars and destroying buildings, all the while the brilliant fireworks that started this whole scene of death still exploded with brilliant color in the night sky. The flames from the sky struck down and sent people flying, igniting them. Men, woman, children all slaughtered by this grand show of power, and as the music came to its triumphant end the fireworks exploded more rapidly than before and the explosions ceased with the final note and the sky flashed a brilliant red as one last wave of fire hit the ground, shaking it and sending everything in its path in wild trajectory. The music ended and Artemis looked down at the destruction of his own making, and he smiled and was shaking with ecstasy. He had never felt so alive, he felt invincible, he nearly had forgotten about the people behind him to who he turned to and bowed. They gave him glorious applause as the city behind Artemis burned. Few faint screams could be heard; Abraxas motioned to a few of the wizards that were there.

"Take care of any survivors." The men disappeared into smoke that zoomed toward the city. Artemis could see green flashes down at the city; he turned back to his audience, all of whom were giving him complements on his grand performance. He made his way to Abraxas.

"Well done Artemis, well done, you have certainly lived up to our expectations and more."

"Thank you sir", all those around him were giving him pats on the back and a whirl of compliments. Finally Tom appeared behind him.

"Sensational Artemis, I'm speechless", Tom put his hand on his shoulder. "Well done." Abraxas made an announcement to all the witches and wizards there.

"Let us celebrate, all of you to Malfoy Manor, quickly before any aurors arrive." All the people on the hillside erupted into the familiar black smoke and whisked away into the night sky. Artemis turned one last time back to the burning city he left by his hand. He gave on last smile, than followed the others back to Malfoy Manor.

The party in the living room was an aristocratic spectacle, hoighty toighty people with their noses in the air drinking champagne and expensive port. Artemis mingled among the guests and as before was congratulated and given compliment after compliment. To be honest he was growing tired of all the compliments, but he understood why, and he grinned and bore it. He met many other pure blood families there, and struck up a conversation with the Black family, who were very fond supporters of the Malfoy family and our "cause". That was a word he heard often, their "cause", and now he was a part of it. Poor Dobby had to cater to everyone at the party, refilling drinks serving hors d'oeuvres to everyone, Dobby caught his eye and Artemis gave him a smile as he rushed on with his duties. Lucius had been put to be before they had left, and Artemis was now the youngest in the room. Abraxas talked business with many people, even had Artemis talk business with him. Saying that they would be planning a campaign of attacks on muggle and mud-blood cities and that Artemis would be leading the charge. Artemis felt quite like a celebrity, being fawned over, and complimented; the topic of everyone's conversation in the room. He rather liked it, but was getting rather tired, he said goodnight and made his way to his room.

As he lied in bed he thought, he did that a lot recently, about what he had done, he didn't feel remorse like the first time, but he thought he would feel better, more accomplished, but all he could think about were the people he had killed. He told himself they deserved to die, disgracing the name of magic by renouncing it and living among muggles. They brought it upon themselves, he told himself this over and over but still he couldn't shake the thought out of his head. He thought about Broderick and what he would think about all this. He told himself he needed to shake away these thoughts of his past. Tom had told him it was best to leave his past behind him, that it did nothing but weaken him with the lies he had been fed. Artemis thought it wise not to think on these kinds on thoughts too much so he just lied in bed, trying to relax. His train of thought was interrupted by a figure standing in his doorway, Adora.

She had changed from her green dress into a black evening gown that wrapped around her chest and under her arms. Her gorgeous blonde was tied up behind her head. She took out her hair clip and shook her hair that scattered around and rested on her body. Artemis lay in bed, trying to convince himself she was only there to say goodnight. She spoke no words; she just stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, and locked it. Her arms went behind her back and she unzipped her dress, as she let go it fell down to her feet, revealing her naked body standing before him. Artemis' eyes widened at the sight of this beautiful goddess, he didn't know what to do, what to say, how to react. He just stayed in bed, but he felt a rush of heat through all of his body, his heart fluttered and was beating faster and faster. She walked closer, and climbed onto his bed. She lay on top of him and she kissed him, again and again. When she had kissed him this morning he had wondered if he could feel that again. How incredible that he should get his wish within the same day. She sat up on him and tore open his shirt rather aggressively; she rubbed her hands on his chest and they kissed more and more, he felt as if he let go of her lips the world would grow dark. He hung on to her and put his hands around her back and held her close. Her hands ran down his legs and she grabbed him. Artemis had never been touched like this, and it frightened him, but he fought his fear, to feel the infinite pleasure of this gorgeous woman touching him. Before he knew it she had taken off all his clothes, and he like her was bare. She took his hand and put it on her chest and felt her, he could feel her heart beating. What happened next, Artemis couldn't explain; he felt such a rush he barely had time to understand what was happening. She twisted herself around him, treating him as if she were his prize, and he felt amazing, better than he had ever felt in his life. He didn't want it to end, but when they had finished they lied there panting, passion was flowing through their veins. She lay next to Artemis; hand on his shoulder, her head resting on his chest. Artemis felt nothing but joy, pure happiness. They fell asleep, in peaceful bliss, and all night Artemis did nothing but dream sweet dreams of the future. Everything had changed, and he welcomed the change.


	7. Come What May

Ch. 7-Come What May

It came as no surprise that the next morning Artemis found himself alone in his bed; Adora had to get back to Abraxas before he suspected anything. Dear God, the thought hadn't even occurred to him. If Abraxas had ever found out about them, he beats his child for not sitting up straight, Artemis couldn't even imagine. Abraxas was dangerous, Artemis knew that, and he started questioning whether it was wise to let his wife sleep with him. Nevertheless he wanted to talk to her, what exactly had happened, did it mean anything, and did she love him? Too many questions needed answering, and he couldn't stand the uncertainty anymore. He had to know.

He took two steps out of his room and he heard Abraxas downstairs, roaring like a lion, Artemis felt his heart stop for a moment, than was beating wildly.

"Where is he!" Abraxas bellowed from downstairs. Artemis could hear him stomping his way to the foyer was making his way to the stairs. Artemis fled to his room, he was panicking his heart was going crazy. He shut the door and locked it and took out his wand. He backed up to the far end of the room, wand at the ready, pointing straight for the door. Than he waited; he could feel his footsteps shaking the ground and heard Adora behind him pleading.

"Please Abraxas it wasn't his fault." Artemis was shaking with fear, he knew he was coming for him and only hoped he could stop him long enough to escape. He wasn't experienced enough to disapparate, God knows where he might end up, but anywhere was better than here. He was getting closer, shouting and screaming. Artemis quaked with horror in his mind, until Abraxas had made his way up the stairs, he had only seconds before he would break down the door, and try to kill him, but Artemis would be ready for him. His footsteps drew closer and closer, Artemis breathed heavily trying to keep up with his heart and finally Abraxas was upon his door, here he comes. But Artemis heard him walk by, still bellowing but he walked right past his room. Artemis stepped slowly to the door, and opened it looking out of the room wand still in hand. He cautiously unlocked the door, and stepped out. Down the hall he could see Abraxas coming out of the bedroom down the hall, his hands around the back of a person's neck, he was dressed in a suit, but a raggedy one at that, he looked as if he had had a rough night, and had a messy head of blonde hair and a rough looking beard. Abraxas was pulling him down the hall and to the stairs, Abraxas bellowed right in the man's face.

"Stay out of my house!" With that Abraxas threw the man down the stairs, he rolled and tumbled and finally hit the tile with a boom. The thin man scrambled himself up and stumbled out the door quickly. Artemis gave a sigh of relief, he didn't even care about who the man was or why he was just thrown down the stairs, he only cared that it wasn't him. Adora came out of the bedroom, and Artemis stopped her and asked.

"Who was that?"

"Abraxas' brother, Dimitri", she looked down and sighed. "He's a drunk, he was shunned by the Malfoy family years ago, sometimes he comes here for help, and last night I let him sleep here."

"To be honest I thought he was coming for me." Adora smiled.

"He'll never know." Adora said as she ran her hands through his hair and went in for a kiss, Artemis loved kissing her but had to stop her.

"No, no stop", Artemis looked at her with urgency in his eyes. Adora looked confused. "I have to know, about last night, what did that mean?" Adora led Artemis back into his room, and shut the door. She paused and looked straight at the wall.

"You have to understand Artemis, I'm not happy here." She paused again, longer. "I hate him, I hate everything about him, I hate being his pet, his prize, his slave I can't take it anymore!" She paced about the room slowly. "I hate everything he does to my son and I want to leave!" Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Why don't you?"

"It's not that simple Artemis."

"We could leave, take Lucius with us and…"

"I can't!" She stared at him tears slowly rolling down her cheeks as she squeezed her eyes shut. "My family used to be like the Malfoys. Pure-blood, wealthy, aristocratic; unfortunately my father gambled away our estate, our home, and all of our wealth." A brief silence. "My family left it up to me to restore our wealth, If I married Abraxas we would have money again, I didn't want to, but my family laid a curse on me. A curse of devotion, I have to obey him, anything he wants."

"Really?"

"Why else would a young woman in her twenties marry a miserable old man?" Artemis thought about this and suddenly it made sense. Artemis had wondered why Adora was married to him, not just their age difference, but why she would allow Abraxas to beat her child, or why she had never seen Adora and Abraxas kiss or laugh together. She was a prisoner.

"What does that have to do with us?"

"I need you Artemis, to set me free to give me some release from that monster." Artemis thought about his next question.

"Do you…like me?" Adora approached him and put her hands on his shoulders and pressed herself against him."

"Of course I do."

"But do you…you know…love me?" Adora thought about this. She smiled and kissed Artemis.

"Yes", Artemis smiled back at her and they kissed. Adora giggled and smiled and Artemis laughed with her. Artemis picked her up by the waist and spun her around, than they embraced, and Adora leaned her head on his chest. "You make me fell…hopeful. I love you Artemis."

"I love you Adora." They kissed again, the most passionate they ever had. But the scare Artemis had this morning had been too great to ignore. "What'll we do about Abraxas?"

"You'll have to kill him." These words hovered over Artemis. The thought haunted him, but Artemis knew what Abraxas was, he was a brute, a crazed angry bastard trying to force the conformities of the aristocracy on his family. He decided.

"Alright, I'll do it. We'll have to plan it carefully, and once he's gone we'll run away together and take Lucius with us."

"What of the cause?"

"You matter more to me than the cause, Tom can replace Abraxas."

"Alright"

"We'll kill him after the campaign. Gain more of his trust." They kissed once more.

"I must go, he'll wonder where I am", with a final kiss she left and Artemis looked hopefully to the future.

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Months passed, and a lot had happened.

Lucius had turned six years old and was very proud to have to use two hands to show his age. Abraxas accepted a post at the Ministry of Magic, as the Activities Director, which pretty much means he gets to tell people what to do all day, he'll like that. His new job allowed him to spy on the Ministry and to hinder their investigation of the attacks. More importantly he was out of the house more often, which gave Adora and Artemis time to "be alone". They had made love several times, other times they planned their assassination of Abraxas. But best of all their love for one another had grown to an unyielding love that ridded the strife of Adora's imprisonment. The campaign was nearing an end; 11 cities had been destroyed by Artemis, two remained; a large city near Bristol, and the final target, London. After the destruction of the twelfth target Artemis would kill Abraxas, and when Tom took his place they would destroy London together. After that Adora and Artemis would run away together, take Lucius and go far away, leave all this behind them, it was all so perfect. Every night Abraxas has a drink in front of the fire before going to bed; he would use the killing curse and kill him. So simple, although things are never as simple as we plan them.

Artemis surveyed the city before him, ready to destroy it. His choice for tonight was Toccata Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. Artemis enjoyed what he did, and in time he had forgotten about the lives he ended, he passed any guilt out of his mind with the notion that, these people that he slays in the name of the cause are swine ready to be slaughtered. The city Artemis faced was the largest he'd ever gone to destroy, skyscrapers, apartments, and large public buildings. Artemis had grown more powerful over these past months, heightening his senses, strengthening his magic, and improving his methods of destruction. He laid his music on his stand, took out his wand, breathed deeply, and began.

The beginning of the Toccata Fugue is an infamous one, with the first note of the piece black smoke shot from several areas with great force exploding like dust from a great organ of which this song is played, forming giant columns shooting into the sky. As the song progressed in the solemn and dreary chords the columns of smoke moved sullenly and came together. They swirled round and round and the wind picked up giving velocity to the dark fog. With the twirling notes of the ominous organ the dark massive cloud spun faster and faster and the heavy wind from the forming funnel cloud could be felt across Artemis' face. The massive ebony tornado swirled around the city destroying everything with its powerful torrents of wind. Buildings were ripped apart in seconds and glass shattered and fell to the streets below. In the streets could be seen the massive swarms of people, running in terror. Being picked up and thrown with great force. The destructive titan began spraying jets of black air that flew across the city, blowing through buildings ripping apart the skyscrapers. The force of the wind blew around all the debris of the city sending everything swirling with the storm funnel that fueled the powerful winds. The jets of black smoke destroyed everything in their path leaving no survivors wherever it went. The winds blew Artemis cloak and he roared, drunk with power, he could feel the power coursing through his veins, and as the notes of the song danced everywhere so did the smoke. Attacking all around with fluid precision and grace and as the final chord of the song came to a close the black tornado exploded into brilliant black mist scattering across the city lightly with the white snow. Skyscrapers fell, all were dead, the city had been brought to its knees and there were no survivors, he could tell. He noticed that when music played he could tell when someone was around, and he sensed no one, so peaceful and quiet. Silent death swept across the city with the pleasant snowfall trickling down.

When he returned to Malfoy Manor, Adora was waiting for him. She greeted him and kissed him. She must be mad for kissing him in the open.

"The dumb brute had to stay late at the Ministry, so we have the whole house to ourselves." She said this with a seductive tone and bit her lip and took Artemis by the hand and led him upstairs. "Let's make love on his bed."

"Are you mad?"

"Let's do it, right here on his bed." Artemis laughed and wrapped his arms around her.

When it was all over they lied there, at total peace, and even more peace because Adora didn't have to run off. She could stay and lie with him.

"I love you Artemis."

"I love you Adora"

"Soon we'll be together forever, without any secrets without any lies, after he's dead we'll be free."

"It's going to be wonderful."

"I want you to have something before you destroy London." Adora unhooked her emerald heart necklace and put it in Artemis hands and closed his hand around it. "No matter what happens, you'll always have my heart close to yours."

"Nothing's going to happen Adora, we'll be together, and we'll be happy, and we'll love each other until the end of time."

"I still want you to have it, please Artemis, in case anything should happen." Artemis took the necklace in his hand, opened his fingers and looked at it, than at her."

"Alright I'll take it. But listen to me, nothing's going to happen." They kissed and smiled at one another and lied peacefully together and drifted off into sleep.

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Artemis was pleased to wake up and still see Adora lying next to him. He got dressed and headed downstairs, he had Dobby fix some breakfast and took it up to Adora. He left her to eat and surveyed the house, going to parts of it he had never seen before. Finally he stumbled upon Abraxas' office; most of it had been moved to his Ministry office. He slept at his office a lot lately, good thing. He wandered around fiddling with the random things he found on his desk. He admired his desk, beautiful wood with snakes carved into the posts with their heads on each corner mouths open, fangs bearing. Each snake had bright emerald stone eyes. He rubbed his fingers against the eyes and they pushed in. The sound of rolling tumblers and shifting gears came from the wall to his right, as it turned round it had a platform and on the platform was a glass case, inside which was a sword. The sword was a brilliant shining silver, with green gems at the end of the pommel, twisting snakes made up the. The blade itself was even more peculiar, not a straight blade, but a Kriss blade, wavy like a squiggly line made into a sword. Along the blade a name was inscribed, Salazar Slytherin. Artemis took a step back with shock. He had heard of the sword of Goderick Gryffindor, but the sword of Salazar Slytherin? His mind was interrupted by the opening of the front door. Artemis whipped around and pushed the snake eyes in, turning the wall back round as he fled the office.

Artemis was relieved to discover Tom standing in the Foyer, he greeted Tom.

"Hello Tom, what brings you here today, no lessons on Sundays remember."

"It's not that Artemis." Artemis could sense the urgency in Tom's voice.

"Tom what's wrong?"

"It's your parents Artemis." Artemis had never visited his parents, but he wrote them to tell them he was alright, and he sent money that the Malfoys had given him.

"What's wrong with my parents?"

"I'm afraid they're dead Artemis, they've been murdered." Artemis eyes widened and his mouth clenched with anger. He burst from the front door and disapparated to his old village. He hadn't been to Chesterton for a long time, but it was just as he remembered. He saw his house and ran to it, seeing the front door ajar; he burst into the front room and called out.

"Mom! Dad!" Artemis ran into the living room and found them, dead on the floor. No blood, the killing curse. Artemis dropped to his knees in front of them. Tears of anger and hate welled up in his eyes as he held his dead parent's in his arms. Behind him stood Tom.

"I'm sorry Artemis, I tried to protect them, but he got here before me."

"Who?"

"You know who." He did know; he held his parents tightly in his arms as tears fell down his face. Tom spoke after a pause, "Name him." Artemis stood red with fury, tears staining his face. With hate in his eyes he said it.

"Broderick Muldoon!"


	8. What Is Quckly Gained Is Quickly Lost

Ch. 8-What Is Quickly Gained Is Quickly Lost

Night began to fall. With hate in his heart, and purpose in his mind, Artemis went to find the man responsible for the murder of his parents. He knew just what he had to do; he would kill Broderick for what he had done, no regrets, no mercy. Tom had left him; he walked with a purpose to the house of Broderick Muldoon. Where once he had walked this path to take lessons from this monster, he now traveled the same path to return and the student would return to kill his teacher. He stood in front of his door, wand in his hand. He reached for the door handle, than thought to himself. "To hell with the pleasantries", he took a step back and pointed his wand at the door.

"Bombarda Maxima!" With that the door and the surrounding doorway exploded into pieces sending them flying into Broderick's front room. Artemis roared into the gaping hole where the front door once stood. Artemis came in and could hear music playing from Broderick's record player, a woman, sultry sounding.

"_And now you say you're lonely, you cried the whole night through."_

Artemis followed the music into Broderick's front room where he was sitting, in his high back chair staring into the fire as the music played.

"_Well you can cry me a river, cry me a river, I cried a river over you"_

Broderick finally spoke as Artemis entered behind him, wand at the ready.

"Hello Artemis", with a subtle chortle he said, "I didn't hear you come in." He paused. "I've been expecting you." Broderick never looked at Artemis just stared into the fire. Artemis saw that Broderick had a glove on his right hand. He let more time pass.

"_And now you say you're sorry, for being so untrue. Well you can cry me a river, cry me a river. I cried a river over you."_

"I didn't kill your parents Artemis." Artemis quickly shut him down.

"Shut up, I don't want to hear your lies."

"You trust him more than you trust me." Broderick said calmly.

"Tom?Of course I trust him, he cares about me, he doesn't lie to me" Broderick gave a chuckle.

"Is that what he's calling himself, well at least there's some deception. I thought you went with him knowing full well who he was. Although it's just as bad when he told you what he was planning."

"Killing filthy mud-bloods like you!"

"There you go, sputtering words of hate to which you don't even know the meaning."

"_You drove me, nearly drove me out of my head, while you never shed a tear"_

"I know what it means; it means you don't have the right to teach pure-bloods like me." Once again Broderick gave a small laugh.

"My God, you have been around the Malfoys too long."

"The Malfoys care about me! They would never hurt me, not like you did."

"_Remember, I remember all that you said."_

"I won't try to convince you I didn't kill your parents or that I didn't try to steal your powers for my own selfish needs, or that you are currently the lap dog for the dark lord himself. You're too far gone for that, your mind has been twisted and corrupted by evil."

"_Told me love was to Plebian."_

"All I can do is try and stop you." Broderick finally looked up at Artemis, and he saw the hate in his eyes.

"_Told me you were through with me, and now…"_

"Engorgio!" As Broderick casted the flames of the fireplace grew to a giant fireball that shot toward Artemis and Artemis raised his cloak to shield himself. When Artemis regained his sight he saw Broderick rounding a corner, Artemis tried to hit him.

"Avada Kedavra!" Green light shot from Artemis wand and struck the corner of the wall. Artemis chased after him. He ran into his large back room, where they had practiced. Artemis just saw him trying to run into the kitchen. "Supplanto!" A white charm hurled towards Broderick's feet and he tripped and fell face first to the floor. Artemis raised his wand ready to kill. Broderick rolled over and casted.

"Stupefy!" Artemis was hit in the shoulder sending him spinning through the air and crashing into Broderick's piano collapsing it. Broderick had gotten himself standing and made his way toward Artemis. Artemis saw him nearing, and threw a charm

"Mutatio Aguay!" The light blue charm screamed at Broderick who dove out of its way just in time to see the large cabinet in the corner turn into water sending it spilling into a puddle. Artemis and Broderick got themselves up, Artemis casted first, "Percutio!" Brilliant arcs of purple lightening erupted from Artemis' wand. Broderick put up his wand and used all his strength to push back the deadly lightening. Artemis walked nearer to him lightening still flooding from his wand, and Broderick pushed with all of his might. Artemis had grown stronger and it worried Broderick, but still he held it back. The arcs were screaming at Broderick deflecting off of him and striking all around his home, shattering windows, and blowing chunks out of walls. The loud noise of the lightening filled the room and as Artemis neared, he stood over Broderick, power rushing from his wand. Artemis could sense victory. Broderick pushed and pushed until he looked up and saw Artemis' smile. With a mighty roar Broderick pushed the magic back sending both men flying. Artemis was thrown out of a window crashing the glass as he flew. Broderick was thrown through a wall into the next room.

Broderick came to a stand, and looked out of the hole in the wall he had made, out of the window where Artemis had gone. Suddenly the entire wall was blown into the house and in came Artemis, angry and powerful. Floating into the room, powerful winds entered with him. Broderick came out of the room and their battle continued.

Not much was to be left of Broderick's house as they battled. Charms flew left and right, blowing out walls and splintering wood. The house shook with the force of the fight, and the two fought and fought, unable to outmatch each other, one unable to conquer the other. Anger blinded not just Artemis, but Broderick as well; Artemis fighting for revenge, and Broderick fighting to save his life.

"Inflatus!" The very charm Broderick had used against Artemis in the cellar, he now used to send Broderick flying through his kitchen and down the stairs to his basement. Broderick landed with a painful boom and groaned in pain, holding his right arm lying on his side. Artemis approached the top of the stairs and pointed his wand at the helpless Broderick. In order to save himself Broderick waved his wand, slamming the door, than casting.

"Protego Maxima!" A gel like charm hurled at the door and encased the door with a magical barrier. Above could be heard Artemis banging on the door, sending blasting charms at the door trying to burst it open.

"You think this can hold me back Broderick!" As the door banged and boomed Broderick scrambled himself up and disappeared into the corridors of his cellar. "Primoris Polleo!" With brilliant golden light the door burst open and shook the house and crumbled walls around stood at the bottom of the stairs gazing into the darkness. "Lumos", Artemis walked slowly into the darkness, his black, long coat blended into the darkness as he plunged himself into the uncertain blackness of the basement with only his wand glowing the way.

Silence, the kind that makes you analyze just how loud you're breathing, and it makes you nervous. He had to be down here, he had nowhere to go, unless the bloody coward disapparated. However Artemis knew Broderick too well than to just run away, he was here, he could feel it. His steps were cautious ones; he could hear the crunching of dust under his feet, and the sound of dripping water. The game was hunter and hunted, however which was which was at this point not certain. Every noise made Artemis turn. He kept his nerve though, he didn't come here to be fearful. He saw a figure move in front of him sneaking past, he couldn't be sure if it was Broderick or not, but he didn't hesitate.

"Avada Kedavra!" The "green curse zoomed to the figure, the green light showed the face of Broderick Muldoon, and as the spell hit him he exploded into some kind of mist. Artemis was confused, he had never used the killing curse before, but he knew it didn't cause evaporation. His confusion was interrupted by a voice.

"You'll never learn." Artemis whipped around to meet the voice behind him. "Expeliarmus!" Artemis' wand flew out of his hand, to see a glowing wand pointing right at him. It was Broderick, but how could that be?

"I killed you…"

"I made a duplicate of myself, didn't learn that from Tom now did you."

"Inflixi", a small charm hit Artemis in the leg causing him to drop to his knees.

"Go on; kill me like you killed my parents." Artemis and Broderick had a moment of silence.

"I know nothing I can say will convince you that what I'm about to do is for your own good, and it gives me no pleasure to do so."

"Spare me your lies, mud-blood", Broderick shook his head. There was a slight pause as Broderick took off the glove on his right hand and rolled up the sleeve of his right arm revealing the burns on his arm, severe burns that made his flesh bright red and shriveled; this happened when his arm caught fire in the cellar.

"I never got to properly thank you for my arm, a mark of what you have become. I can only hope that these next twenty years will allow you to see the error of your ways."

"Bollocks", Artemis said.

"I'm sorry", Broderick takes a breath."Corripio Factultas."

Artemis felt as though his soul was being ripped from his body, a light blue haze leaked from his body and was absorbed into Broderick's wand. It was the greatest pain he had ever felt, he felt as though he was losing something, a part of him was being forcibly taken. When it was all over, he doubled over his hands on the floor holding himself up, weakened. Artemis looked up at Artemis with angry eyes. He scrambled around and crawled to his wand.

"Avada Kedavra!" Nothing happened, with frustration he tried again. "Avada Kedavra!" as before nothing happened. Broderick stared back at him, a blank stare. "You son of a bitch!"Artemis ran toward Broderick, ready to kill him with his bare hands. Broderick pointed his wand at him and Artemis unwillingly disapparated.

When Artemis landed he let out a scream of pain, disapparating had never hurt that much before, it was never a picnic, but he had gotten used to it. Why was it all of the sudden painful? He looked around to see just where in God's name Broderick had sent him. His anger still boiled through him, just thinking about him made him furious. He had taken away his powers, his ability to do magic. Artemis lied to himself about this, "Maybe it'll wear off, or perhaps it's only for a short while?" Than Artemis thought back to what he had said.

"_I can only hope that these next twenty years will allow you to see the error of your ways."_

Just the thought of being without the ability to do magic scared him, he was still weak from the battle, the pain of having his magic taken still chased through his body. He looked all around and saw nothing but farmland, a few barns scattered round the huge open fields. He stood on a dirt road looking every which way and seeing no one was coming for miles. He began walking to one of the nearby barns, hoping he could procure a someway back from well…wherever he was. After a mile or so he reached a farm house, the drop of night was beginning to fall. He stumbled on to their property and saw a single light on in the house, and could see two figures walking about. He snuck to their barn and saw tractors, reapers, and other sorts of farm equipment. A smaller shack stood next to the barn, a garage looking structure. The door was locked, oh how easy it would be to get inside with magic, and he was reduced to a muggle. Even knowing this he tried.

"Alohomora", nothing. He was humiliated; he took off his coat, and pressed it against the pane of glass and hit it with a nearby rock shattering the pane, but somewhat quietly. He shook away the glass and put his long suit coat back on. Inside was something covered in a big tarp; he uncovered it to find exactly what he was looking for, a car, and actually a rather nice one. Artemis was never very good with cars but it was red and judging from emblem on the front he deduced it was a corvette. He opened the door and just as he thought the keys were missing. No doubt they were inside the house; still he looked all around, and nothing. He came across a farming sickle; he decided he would persuade them to give him the keys.

He approached the back door and entered, he came up the back steps and made his way to the kitchen in the dark, he approached a doorway and could hear idle chat between the two, a man and a woman, and the voice of the television.

_"…unexplained weather phenomena leave 12 cities in ruins…" _

He peered out of the doorway and saw the woman in the kitchen just across from him and past that the man sitting in a recliner. Both of them were relatively young. No more than 35 each, a couple no doubt. It was all so perfect, he slowly made his way out of the darkness and grabbed the woman around the shoulders and pressed the tip of the sickle to her neck. Her startled shrieks alerted the man who leaped out of his chair and put his hands up and approached slowly.

"Woah, take it easy, don't hurt her…" Artemis cut him off as the woman continued to whimper and cry beneath his hand. However, the thought that if these two were magical made him realize he would have no way to defend himself.

"Shut up! Are you muggles?" The man approached further worried with confusion.

"What the hell is a muggle?"

"I'll take that as a yes. Not one step further!" Artemis pressed the knife causing the woman to arch her neck and the man to stop his approach. The woman continued to whimper and cry.

"Please don't hurt me, oh God, oh God, please…"

"Quiet! Give me the keys, that's all I want!"

"Keys to what?"

"The damn corvette, and if you don't move your ass I swear I'll cut her throat, now move it!"

"Alright take it easy, I'll get em." The man scrambled out of the room.

"And bring me a gun!" It had just occurred to Artemis that when this was all over they would no doubt call the police, and without any magic he would need to defend himself. Although Artemis seemed to keep his cool he was panicking, scared. He didn't even know his next move, just get out of here. The man came back, holding the gun and the keys out in front of him with just his two fingers cautiously.

"Is the gun loaded?" The man opened the small revolver to show it was loaded, a six shooter. "Take out the bullets", the man did and held them in his hand. "Set them on the counter and back away." He did as he was told and backed away to the other side of the room. He grabbed the keys and put them in his pocket and did the same for the bullets and the gun. "Now were going to leave nice an easily", using the blade Artemis led the woman out the back door, the husband moved toward them, "Don't move!" The blade made a slight poke into her neck and a single drop of blood dripped from the tip of the blade. The woman winced and the man stepped back. Artemis led her out to the car. "Get in." With tears in her eyes the woman spoke.

"What?"

"Get in the goddamned car!" The woman frantically did as she was told. The man, apparently seeing she was being taken, ran out the front door screaming. Artemis started the car and drove through the garage door and sped off in the car leaving nothing but dust. The woman said nervously.

"What are you going to do to me?"

"I don't want you", Artemis slammed on the breaks and stopped. "Now get out." The woman frantically opened the door and scurried out. Artemis drove off leaving her about a miles walk back to her husband.

Artemis didn't even know if where he going was the right way but nevertheless he drove. It was the first time he was ever grateful that his father insisted he take driving lessons. He dug out the gun and bullets from his pocket and loaded the revolver. He had never loaded a gun before, but had seen enough movies to understand what to do and how to use a gun. He drove until finally he hit some sort of civilization. A small town, as he drove on he finally found a street sign, Privet Drive, he was far off from the Malfoys, but he knew where he was and how to get there. He drove for a while and wondered how long it would take before the muggle police would start to track down the car. Never before would he be afraid of muggle law enforcement, but without his magic he felt weak, helpless, and naked. He tried to go along back roads and avoid any major cities. It took until night had completely fallen for him to make it back to Malfoy Manor. He approached the gate, but couldn't open it, it required magic to open. He called out for help.

"Adora! Abraxas! Tom!" No one answered. He put his feet up on the gate and pushed himself up. He got halfway up before the gate sent out a charm sending Artemis hurdling back. In now even more pain he lied there in agony. After a few minutes Artemis heard a voice.

"Master Artemis?" Artemis looked up to recognize a very familiar elf.

"Dobby!" As Artemis tried to lift himself up he drew back and fell in pain.

"Let me help you sir", Dobby helped him up and opened the gate, leading Artemis into the front of the house. The sound of Artemis being dragged into the front door, alerted Abraxas who was sitting in his chair, with Tom standing next to him. Abraxas rose and came over to meet the weak Artemis, Tom following. Abraxas spoke with alarm.

"Dear God boy what happened to you?" Artemis gathered up his strength to stand and spoke, panting.

"Broderick." Tom cut in.

"Did you kill him?"

"The bastard tricked me, he's still alive, we've got to make him pay." Abraxas stared at Artemis with a blank stare.

"Didn't you hear me", Artemis pleaded. "Broderick is still alive, he killed my parents, we can't let him get away with this." Abraxas spoke with a dark tone.

"You seem different Artemis, what happened?"

"He took my powers away; he cursed me and took my powers. It's just like you said Tom." Abraxas and Tom gave a look to each other. "We can get them back, can't we?" There is a pause. "What is the matter with you two, didn't you… Artemis was cut off by the strong hand of Abraxas back handing across the face causing him to collapse on the floor.

"Silence muggle!" Dobby gave a peep of protest and Abraxas kicked him. "You back to the kitchen!"

"But sir, I'm not…I mean…you can't…why?" Abraxas gave him a stare of disgust.

"I'm sorry Artemis, but you're not one of us anymore." There was a pause as Artemis felt the knife of disbelief stab him in the back. Casually Abraxas turned to Tom, "Kill him", and walked back to the front room. Artemis pleaded for his life.

"Tom…please", he stared back into the man who had taught him his new way of thinking, and he saw Tom smile a sinister smile.

"Goodbye Artemis…Avada..."

"Stupefy!" Tom was blown back to the front room startling Abraxas who came running with his cane. Artemis looked up behind him to see his savior; it was Adora standing on the balcony. Artemis smiled but it disappeared with her frantic plea. "Artemis run!" Artemis turned and saw Abraxas pull out his wand and point it to Adora. Without a single word a red charm flew from his wand and struck Adora sending her into the ceiling and crashing to the floor.

"No!" Artemis ran and tackled the broad Abraxas sending him and his wand to the floor with Artemis on top of him. Artemis saw Abraxas reaching for his wand, until Artemis reached and knocked it away sliding on the tile far out of reach. It was now a match of strength to which Abraxas had him far beat. Abraxas grabbed Artemis by the throat. Strangling, Artemis couldn't breathe he struggled to free himself from his deadly grip. Artemis was able to use his old age against him, he trusted his knee into Abraxas' bad hip, and he released him with a loud yell and Artemis fled out of the front door and ran.

Inside the house Abraxas came to a stand, and Tom shook away his confusion and stood next to Abraxas who stood with a limp. "Kill that little bastard!" Tom made his way out of the front door walking menacingly toward Artemis who ran with all his might, which wasn't much. Artemis dodged a charm Tom threw at him and which hit the gate opening it; finally something in his favor. Tom clouded himself and flew straight for Artemis who turned around to see the black streaming cloud approach. Just before it hit him another cloud of smoke came and struck Tom. This other cloud was a white stream of smoke, glowing brightly. Soon the two were rolling on the ground and quickly shot up in the air and were fighting in midair. A swirl of black and white smoke twisting and turning in midair, Artemis didn't take much time to question who this other person was and just ran to the car he had stolen. And drove away, he didn't know where he was going, he just drove. Finally he had a plan and he drove to London.

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It was nearly morning when he finally got there, but he made his way and found the Leaky Cauldron, where he had been but one other time. His father had taken him here to go through the secret wall to Diagon Alley to shop for his books; he only hoped he had remembered the correct order to tap the bricks on which to gain his access. He made his way through the dark pub and saw everyone staring at him, as if they all knew. He made his way slowly to the back where the wall was, eyes burning through the back of him. Artemis took out his wand, knowing it was useless, but perhaps it's the taps that matter not the magic. He hoped than tapped the bricks in the order he remembered, with relief the bricks of the wall folded themselves up in a mystical fashion to the side and made a large doorway. Artemis remembers being fascinated with this as a child, but now it only made him angry, all of this did. Everything he saw made him remember his parents, and that the man who murdered them is till free and took away the only thing that made him special, superior, and now all seemed lost; he _was _lost.

Early Diagon Alley is a somewhat vacant one; the rush doesn't usually come until the late morning. Still those that did populate the streets did the same as those in the pub, they stared. He knew why, why wasn't the question. He could usually tell the difference between a muggle and a magical person, and so could they. The question was how, how can I hide it, how long till they report me. They looked with mass confusion. Mostly why a person who knows how to gain access to Diagon Alley came off as a muggle; most people he passed looked up than went back to their business after Artemis passed them. But some stared longer, and whispered to those around them. He didn't have much time, he had to be quick.

He had been to Gringotts only one other time, once again with his father when shopping for books. His parents were somewhat wealthy, they had enough money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives, hopefully it would be enough to last him twenty years; although wizard gold was worth a lot of muggle money. The walk down the long lobby of Gringotts is always an eerie one. Goblins working at their separate stations, each of which looked up and stared at Artemis, he didn't have much time. He quickly made his way to the end of the row to the goblin seated at the highest desk. Artemis nervously tried to maintain, he cleared his throat.

"I wish to make a withdrawal."

"Name please?" Said the goblin in a creepy tone.

"Artemis Gridlock", with that the goblin waved his hand in over the large book in front of him, the pages of which fluttered than stopped as the Goblin ran his finger down the page.

"It says here only your parents can access this vault", without letting him continue Artemis cut in.

"My parents are dead." There is an awkward pause as all the goblins looked up all at once.

"I see. Present your wand please." Artemis was nervous, he knew he had to, but what if they could tell by his wand. What if this confirmed he was a muggle? A wand is still a wand, it was magical before he got it and it would be magical after he dies; no reason why it should give anything away. Slowly Artemis pulled his wand from his coat and laid it on the goblins desk. The goblin held his wand with its long bony fingers and expected it. "There's something odd about this wand. I can't quite place what though."

"There's not a thing wrong with my wand, now give me access to my vault." With some reluctance the goblin gave in.

"Very well, it does seem to be your wand, Gognar!" The goblin at the desk called to a goblin behind him. "Show Mr. Gridlock to his vault." He said with a sneer. The goblin known as Gognar led Artemis into the back where they boarded a cart that led them far down and finally to vault 429. The goblin opened the vault door revealing a large pile of gold coins and bricks than turned to Artemis.

"How much would you like to withdraw sir?" Gognar said looking up at Artemis.

"All of it", the Goblin looked with confusion.

"But sir, complete withdrawals must be submitted a day before the..." Artemis reached for the gun and pulled it out and pointed right for the goblin below him.

"I said all of it! Now put the money in an extendable charmed bag and hurry!" The frantic confused goblin hurried to the cart and grabbed a sack and rushed back to the vault and began hurriedly scooping piles of gold into the sack. The bag never filled though, ingenious idea extendable bags. Artemis kept the gun on him the whole time Gognar bagged the gold. When he had finally gotten all the gold into the bag he handed it to Artemis with a scared look on his face. "Now back into the vault!" The goblin took a few steps back until he was in the vault, upon which Artemis pushed the large vault door closed and heard the several tumblers lock into place. Artemis hopped back in the cart and made his way to the surface where he quickly made his way out of the bank with goblins mumbling behind him all the while. He went to a few stores; Flourish and Blotts where he picked up several books, than to the Apothecary to pick up several magical items and supplies.

He was glad to be out of Diagon Alley, it was only a matter of short time before they discovered what he was. He got back into his car, and drove. His plan was to get far away from London to get far away from the Malfoys and from Tom. He stopped at several muggle jewelers and pawn shops where he traded some of his gold for muggle money. Nowhere he went had enough money to buy all of his gold, but he collected enough money to last him for at least the next five years before heading to his final destination, for he didn't want to leave a trail of gold leading right to him. His first stop for gasoline was quite an experience; he even had the muggle store owner come assist him. He felt embarrassed and lost in everything he did. He went to a market place and bought himself enough food to last him for about a month and a few extra supplies that made the clerk raise an eyebrow. In a muggle department store he bought himself some clothes, not nearly as nice as he had come to know. He drove all the way to the other side of the United Kingdom, far away from London and _the cause_. He drove for days until he reached Scotland and made his way to a village just outside of Aberdeen. He found a cottage in the middle of a misty wood and bought it from the land owner. He didn't even mind he didn't have an i.d. when he paid double in cash. It was a very old stone cottage with a few modern refinements like a refrigerator and a stove. There was a fireplace, and wooden floors; Artemis didn't know what to think about all this; so much had happened to him emotions were running wild throughout him, mostly anger and hurt of the betrayal he had felt. He had been betrayed by his old teacher, and his new teacher. His so called allies had tried to kill him after all he had done, he had been used. He now realized Tom's plan all along; it was never about helping him, it was just about using him as a weapon. He sent him to kill Broderick knowing what he would do, and then once he was weak and helpless…all these thoughts of betrayal made him furious. Nevertheless his anger gave him purpose and he made the best out of his new lodgings.

Artemis had to hide any magic that still may have resonated from him, including his wand; less they try and find him, which he was certain they would. He put his wand in thin long-mirror lined box he got at the Apothecary and buried it under the floorboards. He bought sixty eight cylinders of salt from the muggle store and encircled his entire cabin with a circle of thick salt. He hung charms around his new home that he got in Diagon Alley. All those stories about keeping witches away with lines of salt are complete nonsense, although they do have some merit. People thought they were safe from the magic of a witch if they hung amulets in their house. What they were really safe from was the magical means they might use to find you. One of the books Artemis had bought was _"Living as a Muggle-For the Witch or Wizard Looking to Embrace the Simple Life" _There was an entire chapter about ensuring that no magical beings could find you.

_"In order to ensure that your new life as a muggle will not be interrupted by any magical beings, such as dementors, elves, or even other witches and wizards; take these few steps to guarantee your new life be a magic-free one._

_Bury your wand, staff, or other magical casting tools in a mirror lined box and hide it underground. Either under floorboards, buried in dirt or hidden in a basement. Magical tools still emit magical energies even though you don't use them anymore. Mirrors have always been able to deflect spells; so in order to block the magical signals the mirror lined box prevents any magic from escaping and having it underground will prevent any magic that may leak out not to be resonated by the air._

_Encircle your new establishment with a thick line of salt. Salt is an absorber of water and other impurities in the air, this includes magic. Any magic you may still be resonating from your home will be caught by the circle. NOTE: If you leave the circle, obviously it can no longer hide you. _

_Hang some protective charms and amulets above your door, windows and bed. Magic escapes mostly when we sleep, so hanging amulets over the exits and above your bed will prevent magical residue from unknowingly leaving your new home._

_ *All of the following methods will not only eliminate any magic you may be resonating, but also will repel any magical locating charms that someone might use to find you._

There were whole chapters on how and where to buy muggle supplies, equipment, clothes, food, and so on. There was even a small footnote in the chapter on driving on how to pump gas. Artemis could tell this book would come in very handy. Some other books he bought were: _"Defending Yourself Without Magic", "Muggles and Their Peculiar Ways", "The Theory of Muggle Life", _as well as many spell books, and parchments of all the music he could find as to study as much as he could until his powers returned. He had purchased many magical items that he could still use even though he was a muggle. Such as instant darkness powder (for escaping if need be), fire crystals (to make a fire easily), flue powder, exploding rocks for his enemies, and planted some devil's snare as well as fanged geraniums around his new home. Hopefully these could hold back any intruders until he could prepare for them.

As soon as he was settled in, he came up with a system; he would go to the nearby village and shop for food and supplies and equip himself for months at a time. Whenever he needed money he would go to a faraway jeweler or goldsmith and get enough money to last him for a few years. He would wash his clothes in the nearby stream and cook his dinners on the stove. He still had his gun and bought several bullets for it, lucky he already had the gun because as he had come to understand it is much easier to buy bullets than an actual gun. He would survive; he would not roll over and die like they might expect him to do. No, he would live on; he would fight for his survival. Anger and hate fueled him, giving him motivation, drive, energy, purpose! Artemis carved the following on the wall above his fireplace:

6/27/1978

The day his powers would return to him, or so he hoped. Twenty years from the day they had been taken from him. In the meantime, he would plan. He would plan every detail, every person responsible and the spells he would use to kill them, every detail he would plot out, like musical notes on a staff. He would spend the next twenty years planning his revenge, the revenge of Artemis Gridlock.


	9. The 20 Years

Ch. 9-The 20 Years

Not much is known about Artemis during his twenty years as a muggle. All that has been recovered are notes, journal entries, and random pieces of parchment that have been put into what is believed to be their true chronological order. However these random records do not seem to start until about 3 years after he lost his powers. He was pretty good at dating his entries; however some of his scribblings are difficult to place on the timeline. Most of his revenge plans were not found, most likely destroyed by Artemis himself after committing them to memory or taking them with him. Large amounts seem to pass between journal entries, although evidence proves that there are several journal entries in between, some suggest these are the only ones he wanted us to find. Some pieces were scattered and only recently recovered, some were destroyed, by whom we are not sure; however some were confiscated by the Ministry as they were seen as far too disturbing.

This first entry was no doubt his first as well, it is clearly stated how he wishes to keep a journal in order to keep his sanity; somewhat of a laughable concept really.

_March 19__th__ 1961,_

_ It occurred to me yesterday night that I don't want to lose myself in this experience, or whatever you want to call it. I have decided to keep this journal, to keep me sane, to remind me of what I have endured, or perhaps to never lose the spark of revenge I now possess. I have decided to mark down important ideas, events, and breakthroughs during my time here._

_ These first three years have been…rough. Adjusting to muggle life, living on my own, establishing a system; I found that the best way to keep me sane and to give myself purpose. I have taken up exercising more than usual, even hunting for animals; for food and killing experience. Get myself used to being the predator to prey. The rest of the day is set aside for meditation and planning; daily meditation allows me to think clearly, and to allow my mind to be at its peak while planning my revenge. I only travel into town, to buy food or supplies, or books. A lot of my time has been spent reading books, books of knowledge, not just wizard books, muggle books; something called encyclopedias, the entire set. Books of fiction, history, mathematics, science, books on every subject you could imagine. Over these past few years I have become much more knowledgeable than I was before. Although with no one around to test it against there really is no telling just how smart I am. _

_ Company is something strangely don't miss, being alone was always something I cherished, and I thought being alone for years would drive me mad. But that's not the case, I don't feel lonely or depressed, I welcome the solitude. The only person I wish to see is my love Adora. What has become of her? Questions like this have haunted a few many of my nights. Day after day I have wondered about Adora, Lucius, and Dobby; worrying for them, hoping. Others that I think of do not merit the same kind of sympathy: Abraxas, Tom, Broderick…all in good time._

The next entry we see is not for about a year later, once again from his journal.

_October 2__nd__ 1962,  
>I have come across a bit of a revelation, an epiphany if you will. It came to me while recalling the events of July 27<em>_th__ 1958 and what had been done to me. As usual I became blinded with anger and thought only of what had been done to me. But that's it, what had been done to me. The spell Broderick used on me, in order to steal my powers. If Tom's ultimate goal was to send me to Broderick in order for him to take away my powers, the question is; why didn't Tom just do it himself? This question buzzed through my head, like a swarm of bees. Until finally after parking aside my anger I meditated and allowed the veil of anger to cease and I came across my answer. The Corripio Factultas curse is by definition illegal in the eyes of the Ministry of Magic. I quickly searched for a book on wizard-law and finally found one. It was a law book set down by the Ministry that I was able to retrieve from some occult bookstore run by some man with a hundred conspiracy theories about some secret government agency called the Ministry of Magic. Of course all his theories were complete rubbish, but my true answer was from an excerpt of illegal spells. There are of course different levels of illegal spells._

_ First we have our unforgivables, which of course get you sent straight to Azkaban with no leniency or exception, even in cases of self-defense. Than we have the somewhat less severeInflictables. Which will get you sent to trial in which case you will most likely either be sent to Azkaban for a short while in the Spartan wing, for the less severe criminals or land you a hefty fine and perhaps house arrest. Than finally there are the Fineables, the proverbial parking ticket of the wizarding world; which will essentially land you a slap on the wrist and a fine. However I couldn't find the spell anywhere, however I did find the spell under a list called Grantables. These are spells in which you must be granted special permission by the ministry to use, after which they will take your wand to a wand maker, who will refine it to have the special ability. The curse was listed as a parasitic spell, which is why I didn't at first recognize it. _

_ The answer was here all the time; Tom didn't take away my powers because he couldn't. He didn't have the ability. At the time though, neither did Broderick. But the music, Mozart's Requiem, Tom revealed later that he had given me the music. But I never thought anything of it, I saw it simply as a way for him to open my eyes to my endless possibilities. Bollocks! He knew when I tried it, that the results would be disastrous and that the Ministry would no doubt get involved. The next day when Broderick tried to take away his powers in the cellar; he must have been given the grantable spell that day by the Ministry, and when he attempted to use it Tom stepped in. Once he had saved me, he had me; he fed me his lies in order to use me from the beginning. Than when I had become too much of a threat he sent me like a lamb to slaughter, knowing Broderick would use it on me. Damn them all!_

_ But the real revelation of all this, is the fact that I thought, my list of enemies, consisted of Abraxas, Tom, and Broderick, however I need to add one more. The ones truly responsible for the spell used to make me a muggle. The Ministry of Magic, and the Minister himself, they must pay._

This next passage is a note discovered along with many others like it. It was an excerpt torn from a book spells; either found or invented, and waiting to be tested; the following was not an original spell. Through research we have traced this excerpt from a book called "_For Your Enemies"_.

_ Scelero-Causes your target to begin bleeding uncontrollably from the mouth, eyes, nose, and ears. Extremely painful, target dies from either blood loss, or drowning in blood. In scientific terms the spell causes all the victims organs to expel any blood they have within them, and sucks all the blood from the muscles, skin, etc. and channels it to one of the orifices in the head. The spell also multiplies the amount of blood that escapes the body in order to make the scene even more gruesome. There is no known way to stop this spell, the only kindness someone could do to stop the pain would be to kill them. _

The only thing written on this page by Artemis was just one word; Abraxas.

_June 12__th__ 1966,_

_ Today I decided to go out for an evening, the decision came when I purchased a Victrola and some records of classical music, however the muggle shop-keeper suggested a record from a new musical called Hello Dolly. After getting home I realized I rather enjoyed the music and decided to go see the show. It was the first time I had been out of the woods in a long while. I didn't go all the way to London, but fairly far to a nearby theatre. The show starred Mary Martin as Dolly. It was about this woman called Dolly, whom everyone loves. Then there were these two funny boys Barnaby and something else, I can't seem to remember his name. They travel to New York, where one of the two boys falls in love. She reminded me of Adora, the woman who played her. Their song they sang was called It Only Takes A Moment, While the song played and I listened intently, I saw something; the lights on the sides of the theatre began to flicker. I looked up to them and when the song ended the lights returned to normal. The instant the performance ended I rushed home and dug up my wand, and tried a spell. Nothing, a coincidence perhaps._

_ However this disappointment was short lived by a large bright explosion outside the window. I looked out the window and saw a figure standing himself up. He must have stepped on the exploding stones. They were supposed to be fatal, damn things. I couldn't tell who it was, but I saw a wand wave and all of the stones explode. I prepared myself, I got my revolver and stood behind the door and pointed it right at the door. I waited and remained silent, than I saw the door crack just slightly and a wand poke through. I struck down on the wand knocking it out of their hand, than flung the door open and pointed right for his head. We stood at a silent standstill for a while, until he made a move toward me, and I shot. The bullet ripped through his head and left a large red splatter on the door. _

_I looked in his pockets, a picture of me, and last known whereabouts, also a map, with some sort of route drawn on it leading to a large circle that had written next to it, somewhere in here. The bastard tracked me down, but who the hell was he? I looked further and found nothing. Than at his wand; I didn't recognize the wand but I did recognize the initials on it "CV" Charles Vanderguild, the famous bounty hunter. He probably sensed me when I left my protective barrier, and most likely followed me from the theatre. This was good and bad, it meant that they were indeed looking for me, but since he is a private bounty hunter, he most likely tell anyone else where he thought I was. I buried the body and put his wand in another mirror lined box. _

_ No more long trips to town. _

_ August 1__st__ 1968,_

_ Half way there, I have had other attempts on my life since the bounty hunter. All of them are now dead, and have joined Vanderguild in the ground. Before when I used to kill thousands at a time, I never felt much. But now killing men right in front of me, some with my bare hands; I feel myself feeling…less. Altogether, just empty._

_ And why not? Feelings will only get in my way; feelingsare what got me into this hell. The plan is coming along famously, ever detail fitting together perfectly. Although I've a long way to go._

In Chapter 1, it was stated Artemis had but one friend at Hogwarts, and that we would mention him at a later time.

_ September 19__th__ 1971,_

_ When I said I feel nothing, it was not true. _

_ I made my monthly trip to the market, and while I was waiting to pay the clerk, a voice behind me yelled. Artemis Gridlock? I reached for my gun hidden in my coat, and spun around and was met with a man, at first I didn't recognize him. He didn't seem to be hostile though, I told him I didn't know who Artemis Gridlock was. He insisted I was him, and that he knew me. I hurriedly paid the clerk and left with him close behind. He told me he was Arthur Carrow, and instantly I recognized him, my old friend. My only friend at Hogwarts, what the hell was he doing here? He followed me and as he called my name I could see people staring, God were one of them looking for me, he's going to give me away. I told him I didn't know him, but he persisted. Remember me Artemis I was your friend, how have ya been? He followed me all the way to my car that I parked in the nearby alley. I told him to just forget me and go away before something bad happens, why didn't he listen? I opened my trunk and put my supplies in, but I could hear him still going on. You have to remember me; we were best friends at Hogwarts. I had no choice._

_ I grabbed the straight tire iron out from the trunk, and spun around and gave him a straight blow to the head. He went down, blood spewing from his head. He made some sort of gargling noise and his eyes rolled back and he shook. I hit him again, and again, and again. Blood sprayed on me, all across my face. Finally after a barrage of hits, his head was left in a bloody mess and he finally stopped thrashing.I gave a look around, no one saw. I threw him in the back seat and drove home. I buried him, and the car, without a single thought. Than as I saw myself in the stream cleaning his blood off of my face. I yelled, angrily I just screamed, and screamed. Then I rolled myself into the small stream and cried,it had been a long while since I had actually cried. I thought of why I did it, why I had to do it, and none of it helped. Nothing helped at all._

_ May 29__th__1973,_

_ I often think of Arthur, my only friend that I had murdered in order to protect my revenge plan. I had gotten over the guilt, but still my memories of him back at Hogwarts still haunt me from time to time._

_ I was considered a freak at Hogwarts; no one wanted anything to do with me. Back then I had a hard time controlling my magic; I accidentally hurt a lot of people. Children can be quite cruel; many times I had to wipe away the blood when they threw rocks at me. I always kept to myself never asked a lot of questions, sat by myself in the great hall. I heard that the strange were welcomed in Gryffindor, but I was in Ravenclaw. I met Arthur in potions class, he was my lab partner and a Ravenclaw as well; I never talked much back then, mostly because no one wanted to talk to me. So when Arthur first talked to me, I was confused. I nearly didn't know what to do. Hi, I'm Arthur Carrow. I just looked at him, as everyone around me giggled and chortled at my reaction to friendliness. He had short black hair, an innocent face, and bright green eyes. He extended his hand and I just looked at it, this was all very foreign to me. Finally I shook it, and said; I'm Artemis._

_ The rest as they say is history. We were the best of friends, Arthur didn't have many friends either, and he lost most of the ones he had, when he became friends with me. He said he didn't like them anyway, but I could tell he missed having other friends besides me. We did everything together, we went to class together, and spent time together, even got in trouble together. More than a few times, we took the fall for one another. But any teacher there knew if one of us was in trouble, the other had something to do with it. When our first year ended, we could hardly bear being away from each other, and once we were reunited, it was the best feeling ever, and our adventures began again. _

_ Even in my second year, I was still a freak, but that just made Arthur and me closer. We had a dance coming up, some sort of ball; I always stayed away from those kinds of things. I was never welcome, and I never had anyone to go with. Arthur told me to ask this pretty girl in our house to the dance, I didn't want to, but Arthur was persistent till the end. Of course I did, and she turned me down, her name was Veronica Vanderguild. I wonder how she'd feel knowing I killed her father not too long ago. Anyway me and Arthur had decided to go together as friends. The night of the dance, we dressed in our best dress robes, other kids yelled words of hate, and I never understood why they hated us. We were all each other had, we weren't dating. We only went together because we had no one else to go with. Although Arthur never asked to go with anyone besides me, but at the time I thought nothing of it._

_ It was later that night when he first tried to kiss me, and I didn't really do anything to stop him. What could I do? I was confused, we both were. He apologized so many times, and I told him it was okay. He was convinced we would no longer be friends after that. But I explained to him that I didn't feel like that about him. He realized he didn't either, I suppose it was just the lifelong rejection of us two bursting forth, looking for someone to love, looking for someone to love us back. _

_ The day I told Arthur I wouldn't be coming back next year, he insisted it was his fault; that I wanted to get away from him because he kissed me. It took a lot of tears and explaining to convince him it was not the reason why. It was because Hogwarts wasn't helping me at all, and I now had a private teacher. I don't think either of us had ever cried that much before in our lives. We continued to write to one another, but we never saw each other. Until that day, the day I killed him. I wish I didn't have to do it, but I did, I had to. I'm sorry Arthur, I'm sorry._

The above letter was recovered from under the floorboards, hidden away. Apparently we were not meant to find it, and he didn't have the heart to destroy it. Some part of him was still human.

_November 9__th__ 1974,_

_ The death of my friend has brought me another friend, I was reading poetry one night, and it just so happened to be the works of one of my favorite poets, Edgar Allen Poe. It was almost in some great plan that I was reading The Raven. When just as in the poem, "While I nodded nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping", I peered out of my window wand in my hand expecting an intruder, it wasn't so much tapping as a sudden thump. As I looked out the window I saw, a raven, sitting on the window sill. I opened my window and saw his wing was broken; I felt as though this was some sort of sign, my patronus was a raven and had always wanted one. I took pity on the creature and brought him inside, for a few weeks now I have been mending his arm without magic, which I've come to realize is very difficult. When finally he was healed I tried to let him go, but he wouldn't leave, he stayed. Most people think of ravens as dark creatures, but he is very lovable and affectionate, he is like me. Misunderstood, viewed by the world as an undesirable, looking for someone to understand._

_ I decided to name my new companion Amicus, a friend._

_June 15__th__ 1975,_

_ I have come to the conclusion that Arthur's death wasn't really my fault, it was theirs. Broderick, Tom , Abraxas the Ministry itself. They were all responsible! They will pay for what they made me do, I hate myself for doing it and I think of him often, and then I think some more. Think about how Tom had betrayed me, and Broderick had lied to me since I was twelve years old. How Abraxas had taken me in as a son and casted me aside the moment I was no longer useful. It was because of them I had to kill him, because of them I'm here in hiding. I hate them all! They will pay!_

_ The plan is nearly complete…_

_ Three years to go…_

The following was another excerpt found among his various notes, later found out to be from a book, although record of the specific book has been lost, the flowing was written in his own writing.

_ FusemVirgae (Wand Fusion)_

_ It is possible for a wizard to take the power from one wand and combine it with another, by means if FusemVirgae. This allows for wands that are given a certain purpose to be combined with wands of a different specialty to perform at peak performance on both levels. Somewhat difficult to do, will render previous wand useless. _

_ This could come in handy…Muldoon_

_ January 23__rd__ 1977, _

_ Only one year to go, and the revenge plan is completed, it will happen just as I have seen it. And it will be glorious, to see my twenty year revenge plan take fruition. _

_ I have studied more subjects than I would ever seem possible, I have become smart, smarter than brutes like Abraxas, or rats like Tom could ever hope to be, and I have no doubts when my powers return I shall be more powerful than all of them. Powerful enough to take down the ministry of magic itself. I am fit, strong; not of just body, but mind. I have memorized every song of the classical age, and I have special music picked out for each of them. It will be a glorious return to power, but alas not everything is in place, but it will be done. Just in time for my homecoming._

_ July 26, 1978, _

_ Finally, the day has arrived, tomorrow my powers shall return to me, and I will be a force for fear once more. No more shall I cower at the presence of my enemies. They shall cower and tremble before me! No longer shall I be subjected to the ways of filthy pathetic muggles. No longer will I suffer here; no longer will I write in this journal, they will write of me, me and my power and how I changed the world. A mere twenty four hours separates me from ultimate glory. And it shall be glorious. When the clock strikes twelve, I shall rise, like the phoenix from the ashes of defeat and death. Only unlike the phoenix, when I arise it shall be to reign death on this world, and to those who have wronged me. I will be reunited with my love again, and when I have achieved my revenge we will go away together. All preparations have been made, and everything is in place for my return. All those who stand in my way will die along with my enemies, and all those on my list will die, horrible deaths that have been chosen for them carefully by the grim himself, by death, by fate. I will be the hands of fate, and justice will be brought to all. _

_ This is my declaration, let it forever be written in the annals of history, from now until the end of time, and it is you, you reading my letters, reading my notes, you who have the extreme pleasure of recording this in the fabrics of time, to never die, to be a force for fear in the hearts of my enemies. Go now and share these with the world. Go now and share my destiny_

_ July 27__th__, 1978, _

_ I'm back…_


	10. The Return

Ch. 10-The Return

Artemis sat anxiously that night, not sleeping. He hadn't slept for the past few nights. He was too excited for his powers to return to him. Soon it would be July twenty-seventh, the day his teacher, his once good friend had betrayed him and used a parasitic curse in order to take away Artemis' powers away from him. Now the time had come, a revenge plan, twenty years in the making was about to begin.

11:55

Soon, very soon, seconds away from his glorious return, it will be biblical, thought Artemis.

11:56

He would take revenge on those who had done this to him, Broderick his teacher, Tom, a new so-called friend who betrayed him and tried to kill him when he was powerless.

11:57

Abraxas Malfoy, his new father-figure who ordered his death and kept Artemis' love locked away, Adora, his wife was Artemis' true love and would fight till the death to free her from his aristocratic grip.

11:58

The Ministry of Magic, who allowed this travesty to happen, by granting Broderick the permission to take his magical abilities away from him. It will be so sweet when it is all over.

11:59

Artemis sat on his bed, holding his wand, waiting, this was it. One minute to go, his raven Amicus sat on the window sill. He seemed to know what this moment held as the bird fluttered is wings anxiously. Time goes so unbelievably slow when we…

12:00

The time had come, after twenty long years of waiting Artemis Gridlock will return once more. But he didn't feel any different, he expected a rush of power make its way through his body. No matter, what mattered is now he could once again do magic, but it wasn't so. He pointed his wand and tried a spell, and nothing. It was just like the several other times he had tried, hoping his powers had returned to him. He tried again and again, but nothing happened. How could this be?

12:02

Artemis felt a surge of anger flow through his body, his plan was ruined, destroyed. That plan was all he had and now it was gone. He grabbed the fire poker near his fireplace and swung heavily in anger, destroying his house, smashing windows, splintering furniture. He had never been so angry in his life; he couldn't bear the thought of all this time being for nothing. He felt useless, life was pointless, and he had no purpose. And he decided to end it all.

He got the gun he kept by his bedside, walked into the living room, and stood staring at the carving he had made above the fireplace twenty years ago.

6/27/1978

With fury he shot into the brick in which the date was carved, blowing the etching away, taking large chunks out of the mantle. He kept shooting and heard the clicks of an empty gun. He reloaded it and pointed the gun to his temple. If he had no power, it would all end here. As a muggle he had no hope of getting revenge on those that had betrayed him. His pulled back the hammer and placed the barrel to his right temple, just a bit of pressure on the trigger, and Artemis Gridlock would be no more.

He thought of what he had planned, and of Adora, and then of the day it had all happened. The battle at Broderick's and then of the car he had stolen in the country. He had wanted to take Adora out to the country to live when they ran away together. The sunrise there was so beautiful he thought it would be… and then like a light at the end of a tunnel there was suddenly an answer, he pulled the gun away from his head and opened his eyes. When he had gone to kill Broderick it was the twenty-seventh and it was daylight out, near six o'clock. In the heat of the battle he must not have realized how long they had been fighting, when he had knocked Broderick into his cellar and gone down there himself, it was so dark, there was no telling what it was like outside. When he had taken his powers and transported him into the country-side he hadn't even paid attention to the sunrise. Broderick must've taken away his powers early morning of the next day, and transported him away where he witnessed the sun rising on the twenty-eighth. He took his powers away on the twenty-eighth not the twenty-seventh! He hadn't realized they must've been fighting for hours, and slowly Artemis got a feeling of relief flood into him.

He fetched Amicus who had flown high above to escape the destruction that Artemis unleashed. He lay on his bed, petting Amicus, who had incredibly soft feathers; Amicus liked to playfully nibble at Artemis fingers and ear. He was a loyal bird, and was always a friend to talk to. He fell asleep and Amicus slept next to him on the pillow.

He awoke, felling refreshed, as he hadn't slept in weeks, too anxious. He looked at his watch, nine o'clock PM, good lord! He had slept nearly an entire day. I suppose the trauma of nearly committing suicide coupled with a stunning revelation that saved his life had really taken a toll. He still felt anxious though, only hours left until he would rise to power once more.

He cooked some dinner over the fire, just a way to pass the time; he was cooking a large chicken over the fire like a rotisserie. He had actually built a little coop near his cabin and raised a small flock of hens, extracting their eggs for breakfast, how sweet it will be to no longer have to slave for his survival. Once he returned to power he would be able to use magic to solve his problems as before. However he had gotten used to living as a muggle, twenty years will do that to you, but he did long await the day where he would live as a king, not a slave.

Ten o' clock, only a few hours left. He had waited twenty years and now these hours were going by slower than the twenty years. He pulled of pieces of food and fed them to Amicus who gratefully snatched them with his black beak. Amicus and him went everywhere together, Amicus had been grateful of Artemis bandaging his broken wing and now they were inseparable companions, Artemis was very excited to even give a few enchantments to Amicus when he was powerful again. Speed and Strength charms and a charm that would allow Amicus to disapparate with him, he planned to use Amicus not only as a companion but as a symbol of fear to those who knew he was coming for them.

Artemis' things were already ready and packed, all his books and plans, his amulets and other magical objects, once he had powers again he would enchant his bag with an extendable charm, allowing him to put immense loads into the bag and it wouldn't be the slightest bit heavier. Eleven thirty now, Artemis couldn't even read. He had read a lot these past years, and found it was an excellent way to pass the time, as well as learn along the way, and he quite enjoyed a good book. He had studied up over the years with all sorts of subjects and had become incredibly smart, and not to mention physically fit. So much time to kill one takes up things like exercise, and the rough life of living in the forest certainly helped: chopping wood, hauling loads of fire wood, dragging large beasts back home for dinner. He had become quite the specimen indeed, and now it was time to put his body and mind to the test. Eleven fifty, a mere ten minutes separated him from his revenge.

He saw a light, a tiny one coming from outside in the dark of the night. He recognized it as the glow of a wand with the "Lumos" spell. Artemis grabbed his gun and extinguished the fire, leaving only a small oil lamp burning on the mantle. This person was probably waiting for him to go to bed, in a few short minutes he would have his powers back and killing this intruder would be all too easy. When he heard a clamber at the other side of his house, he whipped around and saw nothing out his other window, he went closer to examine the noise. Without warning there came a loud roar of a man from behind Artemis who tackled him in the back and sent him straight to the floor face first. His gun flew out of his hand and slid into the darkness of the rest of the cabin. He felt this person straighten themselves up and turn him over. He was face to face with a man who looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place him. This had not been the first time Artemis' home was invaded, others had come to collect what he inferred was some sort of bounty set by Abraxas, who was extremely wealthy. How this man had gotten past all of Artemis defenses was a complete mystery. The man pushed his wand into Artemis' neck and laughed.

"Oh how I hoped I'd be the one to find you, they'll take me back now wont they." The man gave a chuckle, but there was a slight slur in his voice and had horrible breath. He had a mess of bleach blonde hair and bright green eyes. He looked like hell, five o' clock shadow of the worst kind, a nice raggedy pinstripe suit complete with tears and stains. Artemis could see his wand on the table just out of reach, only minutes left and he could use it, but did this man know that? Still pointing the wand to his neck, the man pulled out of his tatty suit jacket a silver flask.

"Cheers eh", the man tilted his head back and drank a giant gulp. A foolish mistake on his part, Artemis punched the flask right into his face; he flew back off of him grasping his face which now was very bloody. Artemis looked at the clock, eleven fifty-seven, only three minutes left. As he turned to look back at the intruder, he found himself being shoved with all the man's weight into his table breaking it in half. When Artemis had pushed him back the man had lost his wand, it was now a fist fight, wrestling on the floor. After a punch to the face Artemis grabbed the man around his throat, he was soon met with a knee to the chest. They rolled across the floor punching and kicking, Artemis was tasting blood in his mouth, and had only minutes to hold him off, he just had to keep him from getting his wand.

The man spotted the wand on the floor and reached for it, Artemis laid on top of him trying to hold him back, but he reached closer to his wand, his hand stretching and his fingertips nearly scraping his wand. Artemis looked around and saw his hunting tools and grabbed one lying on the floor from when the table collapsed. He plunged the knife into the stranger's hand, nailing it to the floor, he let out a loud scream of pain and blood seeped from the base of the blade. Artemis stood and looked at his clock, eleven fifty nine, only sixty seconds to go! His excitement was cut short by the man's legs swinging back and tripping Artemis sending him crashing to the floor. The stranger was now lying on top of Artemis the blade from his hand was now released from the floor and was trying to plunge it into Artemis' neck. Artemis held it back with all his might; he outmatched the man in strength. He was a scrawny person, and judging by the smell of his breath probably a bit tipsy. Artemis saw his wand behind him and reached for it with his other hand. He was almost sure he was only seconds away from regaining his powers. He grabbed it and attempted to point it at the strangers head, but he grabbed his wrist trying to hold back his wand.

It was a battle to the death; on one side, a knife, only inches away from plunging into Artemis' neck, and on the other, a wand just about pointed right for the man. Both were using their hands and pushing with all their might, until Artemis had his wand pointed straight for him, but the time hadn't come, the knife drew closer and closer, the point just barely touched his skin when. BONG! BONG! Twelve o' clock! Artemis felt as though hot liquid gold was rushing through his veins, recharging him giving him life, like adrenaline coursing through his body. He didn't hesitate a moment.

"CONFRINGO!" The spell shot from his wand at point blank range, sending the man smashing into the opposite wall. Artemis collected himself and got up to a stand. He turned and waved his wand and a large fire burst forth from the fire place, giving light to the small, destroyed inside of the shack. Artemis got a good look at the intruder for the first time. It took a moment but he recognized who he was, Dimitri Malfoy, brother of Abraxas Malfoy and family reject. He must've thought capturing Artemis would restore his image with his family. He lay against the wall, weak, dying, bleeding; Artemis had often wondered about the first person that he would come across when he regained his powers. Dimitri took a long time to die. When he was finally dead, Artemis had a wonderful deranged idea.

"Decapitatum," he then stuffed the head of Dimitri into a bag and once he had enchanted Amicus with a strength charm, gave him instructions to deliver it to Malfoy Manor. Artemis saw Amicus fly across the dark morning sky and looked at his hands, and ran his fingers all over his wand. He immediately conjured himself a suit, of course with purple accents. He then rose high above the trees of the forest he had lived in for so many years. He shot a bolt into the sky turning the skies a dark black, and brilliant purple lightening arched from the darkened sky. Artemis Gridlock had returned.


	11. Divine Divination

Ch. 11-Divine Divination

Although he was powerful once more, Artemis couldn't deny there were a few things he would have to establish before he could start his revenge plan: a base of operations, food, and supplies. Of course now that he was a wizard once more his next trip to Diagon Alley went smoother than the last, although the streets were very unpopulated and many shops were closed down. Newspapers flew across the cobblestone street all with the same headlines, _The Dark Lord Rises To Power, Voldemort Assumes Power, Wizards Fear To Speak His Name. _Artemis had heard of Voldemort before he had been banished, he was told that he was a very dark and powerful wizard bent on wiping out half-bloods and muggle-borns. The thought of killing mud-bloods didn't matter to Artemis anymore, all that mattered now was revenge, still, this Voldemort may know something about the Malfoys or Tom, and after all they seemed to have the same objective in mind.

Artemis still had countless amounts of wizard money, as well as muggle money left over even after the twenty years. His parents were quite wealthy, although all the money was left to Artemis because his parents were murdered by Broderick Muldoon. That was his first target; he finished buying supplies and bought a tall skinny house with a grand second floor view that overlooked Diagon Alley. It was well hidden in the endless buildings of the alley. He applied amulets and charms about the house to prevent intruders, as well as a skull to hang by his door, designed to scream if anyone entered. You had to feed it chocolate within five seconds to keep it from setting off. It was good to be back in the wizarding world.

He had all his revenge plans set out on a large table on his second floor, when he heard a tapping at his window; it was Amicus. He opened the window and fed him some special food he found at the Magical Menagerie just for ravens. He turned back to the large parchment rolled across his drawing board, the first step…Broderick Muldoon. He dressed in his long black cloak, and his pin stripe suit with a deep purple tie, and nice leather gloves and a purple pocket square with his initials on it. He put up his hood and set out with Amicus, his plan was for Amicus to be a sign, a sign that Artemis would soon be there. He set out for Broderick's old home.

It was exactly as he had left it, the entire home was destroyed. Walls blown out windows shattered. The house was silent all that could be heard was the summer wind, blowing through the trees that pierced the dark sky. He searched the entire house and did not find him. He wasn't here, and from the looks of it, he hadn't for some time. Where could he be, someone has to know, but whom? He searched his house for clues, overturning the shambles of the house that was left. Finally he came across a small pile of various parchments buried on an overturned chair. They were notes, profiles of past students, he found several notes that no doubt belonged to Artemis: _"…showing great improvement with his musica…seems very anxious…I sense darkness."_ It appears that he tried to destroy these records, all that was left were scraps, he looked over by the fireplace, which had burns all over the surrounding walls. He gazed into the fireplace, and saw only ashes left.

"Phoenix Cinis", Artemis said pointing his wand into the pile of ashes. The ashes shifted around and regained their color forming back into the documents they once were. The first one he came across was a witch, who by Broderick's notes was very gifted in divination. Broderick had always taught children with very extreme gifts, who wouldn't fit in to Hogwarts either because they were way ahead of their class or they were a danger to those around them. Artemis remembered a little girl that had lessons right before him, she could transfigure herself into anything, any person any animal or any magical creature. Problem was she had no control over it until she met Broderick, she would be transfiguring into dragons and giant snakes accidentally within the halls of Hogwarts. It all became clear that Broderick most likely housed these extraordinary children in order to reap them of their gifts; God only knows how many others he had stolen gifts from. He turned back to the gifted divination witch, her name was Mafalda MacDougal; this name seemed oddly familiar to Artemis, although he knew he had never met her.

Artemis returned to his hideout, and began searching through any records of parchment he had for the name Mafalda MacDougal, he finally came across her name when he knocked over a stack of books. A bright blue book with gold etching on the front _"Divine Divination" _was the title, and on the back was a moving picture of the author, she had long, messy curly blonde hair, and a fair innocent face. Under the picture was her name, Mafalda MacDougal, of course, Artemis had read this book before while studying during his twenty years of exile. It was a brilliant book on divination, and the author was once a student of Broderick's, and more, her shop was in Diagon Alley.

He arrived at Mafalda's shop, _Prophecies by Mafalda, _it was a strange looking house, a very cartoonish house, but it blended in quite well with the rest of the quirky shops along the alley. He walked in and there was a sign floating just as he walked in it said _"I knew you were coming, please have a seat" _a finger on the sign pointed to the right were there was a small section with an overhanging sign that said _"Waiting Room" _but there were no seats, the floating sign nudged him to move, and Artemis wandered into the small waiting area, he stood there and the sign motioned for him to sit down. Feeling ridiculous, he sat on the floor, the sign returned to its original post. A curtain of beads separated this lobby area with what he assumed was Mafalda's shop. Artemis sat for only a moment when he heard a voice.

"You may come in now!" It was a sweet sounding voice, a woman soft and fair. Artemis pushed aside the beads, and made his way into a very strange room, dimly lit by the sun pouring in through the red curtains and making the room quite warm. Incense was burning which gave off a very heavy smell. There were Arabic looking decorations and furniture all around, a large oddly shaped fireplace was in the corner of the room with a tea kettle, hovering over the fire. Small circular table sat by the fire with two large high back chairs on either side. Beads and amulets hung from everywhere, it all seemed very cluttered but very homey at the same time. Artemis didn't see anyone, but he took two steps and his foot caught something and he went tumbling forward landing face first on the ground.

"Perfect!" Came a voice from above him who was examining Artemis very closely. "I thought of moving it slightly to the left but I thought that would be too far, let me help you up dear." The petite blonde woman stood up Artemis, and he got a good look at her, she was quite beautiful just like her picture on the book, she wore beautiful blue robes that conflicted with the red and gold décor in the room. She was smiling happily and seemed to be very excited. She looked a bit older than her picture on the book. Artemis tasted blood and knew he had a bloody lip; he raised his hand to wipe the blood away when she stopped him. "No no no, let me get that." She raised a white handkerchief to his lip and wiped away the blood than excitedly rushed over to the other side of the room. And threw the handkerchief into the fire, she examined the flames very carefully than turned back to ask Artemis, "Have you touched a turtle recently?"

"Umm, I don't think so."

"Hmm", she said curiously, "thought not." She came over to Artemis and peered at him, then started rifling through his pockets. Artemis was taken aback, as to what she may be looking for. "Ah-ha!" she pulled triumphantly out of his pocket a small piece of black lint from his black pants. She ran across the room back to the fire, and noticed Artemis. "Well come on", she motioned for Artemis to go over to the other side of the room where there were a large amount of shelves on the wall holding several ingredients, candles, bottles and other assorted things. She began pulling things and handing them to Artemis. "Hold this, and this please, thank you", his arms were now busting with an assortment of things. "This way please", she led him to a small table by the fire with all his ingredients and then started pulling things out of his arms and mixing them into a small glass, finally she mixed together a small potion, after which she added the lint that sizzled noisily in the glass, she swirled it around and after smelling it gulped the whole thing down in one swig. She shuddered and made a funny clicking noise and then put the glass down. A very confused Artemis stood staring at a woman who just drank his pocket lint in silence with only the noise of the fire crackling. Finally Artemis broke the silence and spoke.

"Are you..."

"Yes, Mafalda MacDougal, you're doing good"

"What?"

"Well the normal response for me would be to ask how do you do, to which you would respond with…good."

"Ah, I see."

"See what?" There was another awkward pause until she spoke. "Well have a seat if you would", Artemis made his way for the chair on the right side of the table, until he was stopped. "Oh no, don't sit there dear it has a broken leg." Artemis shifted over to the chair on the left and sat down. Smiling happily Mafalda sat down on the chair on the right side and immediately there was a snap of wood and the chair fell backward sending Mafalda tumbling across the floor. She scooped herself up still smiling. "Well that was fun; perhaps next time I'll let you have a go." She waved her hand and the chair propped up and repaired itself, she finally sat down and before Artemis could speak she cut him off. "Yes I'm fine. Would you like a cup of tea?"

"No thank you", Artemis said politely.

"Take the tea", she waved her hand and the pot hovering over the fire poured tea into the two cups on the table; she sipped her tea and stared at Artemis over her teacup. Artemis sat awkwardly and took a drink of his tea. She continued to stare at him.

"Is something wrong?"

"You have one hundred and eighty two eyebrow hairs above your left eye, but only one hundred and eighty one over your right. Disappointing indeed, very disappointing, I did expect better from you."

"Sorry about that, listen all I need is to ask you a question than I'll be on my way."

"My husband Arthur has two hundred and twelve above his right eye, but to be fair it's hard to tell when his right ends and his left begins." All Artemis could think was that this woman was mentally imbalanced; nevertheless she may know where Broderick is.

"Do you remember your teacher Broderick Muldoon?"

"Well of course I remember Broderick, one hundred ninety seven over his right, one hundred eighty nine over his left. Fascinating man isn't he, quite the teacher too. Don't know where I'd be without him, well I do know. I'd currently be in Papua New Guinea married to an indigenous cashew farmer who smells of pickles." She gave a smile and a slight pause. "And to answer your question, yes I know where he is."

"I didn't ask you", than Artemis remembered who he was talking too, "Right."

"But no, I won't tell you, not yet."

"Why not?"

"It isn't time, goodness gracious I thought your lint tasted of impatience."

"So what am I…"

"Ooh, one moment", Mafalda stood up rather hastily and rushed over to her couch where she shuffled through the various pillows on it. Finally she chose one with an "ah-ha" and fluffed it and placed it strategically on the floor, than she used her foot and inched it and finally stopped, satisfied with her odd task. "Now what were you saying?"

"What are we to do until you tell me?" She looked blankly ignoring what he just said.

"Would you care for a spot of breakfast?" Artemis looked strangely at his watch.

"It's three o' clock in the afternoon."

"Suit yourself", she rose and went into her back room. Artemis gave a huff of aggravation. He was getting nowhere. She came back her arms bustling with eggs, bacon, and sausages, which she threw in a pan all together and stuck over the fire.

"When can I know where Broderick is?" Artemis said impatiently.

"When it's time."

"And when will that BE!" said Artemis raising his voice."

"Not so loud you'll wake the little ones", Mafalda said. She took her pan off the fire and sat back down scooping the food out with a gardening shovel and eating it. "Oh and I'll ask you to not mention your name to my husband when he comes home."

"I didn't tell you my name, and why not?"

"Because he's an auror with the Ministry and once you mention your name he'll attempt to arrest you which will lead to a fierce battle inevitably destroying my furniture, and of course my husband as well."

"Why would he want to arrest me?'

"Are you not Artemis Gridlock, the famed wizard responsible for the destruction of twelve muggle cities?" Artemis was stunned by this news and he reached for his wand. "Oh that won't do you any good." Artemis thought than sat back down, she was right killing her wouldn't do a bit of good. Strange though she didn't seem frightened by him; and famed? Artemis didn't realize he was famous, he didn't realize that he was known as the destroyer of those cities so many years ago. "Don't worry I'm not going to tell anyone."

"How do I know that?" Artemis said suspiciously.

"Well my dear boy, as the sign clearly stated I knew you were coming, and if I had the intention of turning you in, you would already be in the custody of the Ministry right now." Artemis thought of this stunning logic, and suddenly grew very anxious to be away from this person who seemed to know so much about him. Suddenly he grew very curious.

"Why don't you turn me in?"

"Well you don't intend on killing me and _my_ family, and it's none of my business really."

"You know what I'm planning."

"Yes, and although I know it won't do a bit of good, you should know that Broderick didn't kill your parents." Artemis had sometimes suspected this, thinking Tom had killed his parents in order to get him to go after Broderick. "But do away with that Tom fellow, bad egg that one, one hundred seventy seven on the left and two hundred and two on the right."

"You know him?"

"Well everyone does dear, he's on every issue of the Daily Prophet," she said grabbing a newspaper from under the table and handing it to him. He saw the headline, _Voldemort Strikes Again,_ and in the corner was a picture of a man with a thin face and a messy head of black hair. It was Tom! Tom is Voldemort, the dark lord Broderick had warned him about was under his nose the whole time. Artemis head whirled with this news, and he slumped back in his chair. He was startled by the sound of the door opening and a man coming through the beaded doorway.

"Hello dear I'm…" with a loud crash the man stumbled over the same footstool that Artemis had tripped over. A glass vase shook from the boom and fell from a shelf and landed softly on the pillow Mafalda had laid there a moment before. The man brought himself up and dusted himself off. "Perfect, knew you'd get it."

"Hello Arthur", the man came around and gave Mafalda a kiss on the head. He had on a tweed suit and looked as squirrely and crazed as his wife.

"How are Ainslinn and Harold?"

"Fast asleep upstairs."

"And who might you be?" Mafalda shooed him out of the room out the back where Mafalda had gone to get food.

"Oh no, you know I don't discuss clients with you, privileged information you know, now get, see to the children." She came and sat back down, grabbing Artemis hand and looking at his hand. "I sense darkness in you Artemis, darkness that may lead to your downfall, take heed to my advice. Go, start new somewhere else, forget your revenge plan and leave. This road you are on will only lead to pain." Artemis suddenly grew dark and evil with his next words.

"Pain perhaps for my enemies and one of them is hiding and only you stand in my way of getting to him. Now where is Broderick?" She looked sadly for the first time as if wary to some sort of danger.

"Bristol", she said sadly, "the church on Second Street", Artemis turned to walk away, when she called back. "Don't let it control you, Artemis, you have a choice". Artemis left the room and walked outside. He glared down the street and saw quite a bustle of people. Down the street he saw the minister himself being escorted by many guards, dementors, and even some famous aurors. It seemed to be some sort of parade, or perhaps public appearance. By the pace they were going it seemed that if Mafalda had told him where Broderick was when he asked, he would've run right into them, there's no way he could've taken on all that security, and he's secrecy would've been ruined. He looked back at the shop and smiled. He felt a new drive as if the universe itself meant for him to do what he set out to do. He knew where Broderick was now, and he wouldn't hesitate to do exactly what it seemed the fates wanted him to. He put up his hood and set off for Bristol.


	12. As If We Never Said Goodbye

Ch. 12-As If We Never Said Goodbye

As Artemis approached the church in Bristol, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dejavú . Being that twenty years ago he had come to kill Broderick in his home, and now after all these years he would do the same. Only this time Broderick would not best him, back then Artemis was foolish, and naive. Twenty years of exile has a tendency to fix such behavior. The church was clearly quite old and very tall, with a large steeple and bell tower. A large stone staircase led up to the grand entranceway with a large wooden double door. Artemis climbed the light colored stone and made his way up to the grand archway, and rather then entering with a bang, he decided to enter politely. He opened the large door, and made his way into the large sanctuary. Wooden pews lined the floor of the massive sanctuary, with a large arch near the front which led to the alter and the priest's pulpit. The ceiling had a grand dome with old etchings in the stone, reflecting the style of the colorful stain glass windows. Artemis walked down the center aisle looking around. When he turned around he gazed up at the balcony, and against the wall was a large circular window depicting Jesus on a crucifix. Artemis looked wildly out of place in his black cloak, but saw that the church was empty.

All except for one man, sitting alone in an empty pew. He looked old and tired, he was bowing his head, apparently meditating or perhaps praying. But there were features about him that were unmistakably familiar. He had a glove on his right hand, and was dressed just as he had all those years ago, but now he looked old and weak. Artemis approached the old man, and before he spoke, the old man greeted him.

"Hello Artemis, has it been twenty years already? It seems longer than that"

"You know why I'm here then."

"Yes."

"And still you choose to sit there and die?"

"I have faith, Artemis."

"Faith in what? That your God can protect you from me? I never thought you would find religion."

"No not religion, spirituality."

"I suppose you've stopped practicing magic as well."

"An auror is sometimes forced to do unspeakable things to dark wizards, things I'm not proud of, but have had to live with. When I took your powers I stopped doing magic. Taking your powers did more than weaken you, I took in your power, I also took in your hate, your anger, your evil. And it is that evil which has weighed down on me all these years. Even when you regained your powers I felt it leaving me, but it had already done its damage. So here I am, a poor sinner looking for salvation, waiting to die."

"I won't kill you like this, you have to defend yourself."

"No."

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice." Artemis pulled out his wand and casted on Broderick. "Imperio", Broderick fought against the strong will of the imperious curse, but Artemis could feel it conquering him. "Stand up", and as if on demand as a slave is to his master, Broderick stood. "Get out your wand", hands trembling Broderick reached for his wand. Artemis smiled. "You reject magic and yet you still carry your wand." Broderick's hand gripped his wand and pulled it slowly from his jacket. Then Broderick smiled, and stopped trembling.

"You're powerful Artemis, but not that powerful." then Broderick dropped his wand and turned around and started walking away. He had tricked him, Artemis was angry but still he refused to attack him, not like this. He refused to kill him while his back was turned.

"Come back you coward! Fight me!" yelled Artemis, his yells echoing through the sanctuary. But despite his yelling Broderick did not turn round he just made his way to the front of the large room and toward one of the doors. "Perhaps I should go to the forbidden forest and visit your dear Filene." With these words Broderick stopped dead in his tracks, closing the door he had just opened. He looked back at Artemis with half fear, half anger.

"You wouldn't dare." said Broderick in a fearful tone.

"Do you think there is anything I wouldn't do to procure my revenge? Now fight me or she dies!"

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Broderick said for the first time raising his voice.

"I found your journal when I searched your home. You were in love with a centaur weren't you?" These words seem to sting Broderick, and Artemis saw the look on his face. "Oh I see, you still are."

"Shut up."

"You were in love with a half-breed, a filthy half-breed."

"I said Shut up!"

"But she didn't love you back did she, how could she, she's not even human."

"SHUT UP!"

"Can you imagine what your children would've looked..." Broderick reached out his hand and his wand flew to his hand.

"Inflatus!", Artemis was cut off by a large blue charm striking him right in the chest sending him across the room and into a wall, and landing on his feet.

"That's more like it", Artemis said with an evil smile. He pulled out his wand and casted back. "Lamnia!" Three knives erupted from Artemis' wand and hurled toward Broderick, who deflected two of them and was sliced on the top of the arm by the second, making a bloody tear in his sleeve.

And the battle began. There was a sense of nostalgia in the air as the two battled, a sense of reunion and of things past. Just as before the two men demonstrated their power, but this time it was Artemis who could outmatch Broderick. Like a cat playing with a mouse, only keeping him alive to surge the battle forward. Although Broderick sometimes surprised Artemis and he would mock him with comments such as "Not bad for an old man." This was all fun for Artemis but a battle of survival for Broderick. The two men were thrown back and forth, dueling to the death just as they had twenty years ago.

"Lumos Maxima", cried Broderick as he flung his wand throwing a glowing ball of light toward Artemis. It was like looking right at the sun, so he pulled up his cloak to protect himself. When he regained his eye sight he looked up but Broderick was gone, all he saw was a figure just making its way through one of the back doors leading behind the alter. Artemis chased after him but once he went through the door he found himself in darkness in a hall filled with doors and other passageways. Artemis' steps were careful, he was hiding down here, and then the sudden memory of the past came to him. It was just like this when his powers were taken. He kept his wand unlit and instead of being the hunted, he was the hunter. Artemis spoke into the darkness.

"I suppose you're feeling a bit like I was feeling all those years ago. Outmatched, weak, knowing what's coming, hoping you can get out of here alive. You have no idea how happy it makes me to know that you're feeling what I did." Artemis disappeared into the darkness.

Broderick was hiding in the shadows of the numerous hallways and corridors. He knew them well, well enough to hide. But he could feel the end coming, and he heard Artemis speaking, his words echoing through the walls. Survival was never his aspect but now that he was in this battle he was in it till the end. He thought if he could best Artemis here, would he kill him? Artemis wouldn't think twice about killing Broderick would he? He couldn't bear the thought of committing yet another sin using magic in the name of stopping another dark wizard. No amount of tricks or other spells could change Artemis, he was gone now, a different person, his mind could not be swayed or changed. He heard a voice say something he couldn't understand, he couldn't even be sure it was Artemis. But he peered out of the room he was in and saw a figure moving through the darkness, he nearly attacked but he couldn't be certain it was him. He saw the figure pass the room, and then the figure turned its head and their face was revealed by a small gleam of light from a window letting in a single ray of sunlight. It was Artemis! He aimed his wand and with much hesitation casted. "

"Avada Kedavra", the green charm arched and struck him right in the back. Broderick felt a sting of pain to what he'd just done, but convinced himself it was for the best. He approached him and saw the face of Artemis Gridlock dead on the floor. Broderick looked down at the face of the boy he had taught and now killed. He turned his head away and heard a sledging morphing sound and looked back at the dead man on the floor. He was no longer Artemis Gridlock, but someone else lying dead on the floor. Broderick saw that it was someone he knew, a priest, father Macready, he had seen him many times around here. But how, he had killed him, he had killed a priest, but...

"Peek a boo", said a cold voice right behind Broderick. He turned and was met with the real Artemis Gridlock. "Bombarda!" Broderick was thrown through the wall above the alter splintering the wood and landing with a great bang against the balcony and landing on the ground. He slowly got to his knees, struggling to live on as Artemis came floating into the sanctuary through the large hole made in the wall. As he landed he spoke a menacing speech. "Can you feel it Broderick, closing in on you." He chuckled as he walked nearer down the middle aisle. "Have you ever had something go exactly to plan, its quite exhilarating you know. I had planned this for years, just what I would do to you, just how I would kill you. And now I can see it, see the painting that I drew all those years finally coming alive. Everything is going just as planned. Well the priest was never part of the plan, but there you have it." These words were all that Broderick needed he lifted his head and his eyes were filled with fury. He stood up with a mighty roar and threw charms, Artemis tried to block them all but finally a large one hit him and sent him crashing into a wall. As soon as he stood himself up, Broderick hit him with another one, again and again, Artemis feeling as though he were being punched over and over. He tasted blood in his mouth. He stood with a smile.

"You know what makes you weak Broderick. You're feelings get in your way. Feelings for yourself, for your little centaur slut, even toward me, and especially for you're new found religion." Artemis turned round and pointed his wand straight for the alter holding a large bible and above it hanging a large crucifix. "Incendio", with that large flames erupted from Artemis' wand and ignited the large alter and it was instantly engulfed in crimson flames. Artemis turned back and saw Broderick, shocked and panicked. He pushed Artemis aside and began trying to extinguish the flames. As he put out the fire, he turned around felt as though something had a hold of him. Artemis lifted his wand and was controlling Broderick in mid-air, he flung his wand and Broderick slammed into a wall, taking large chunks of the stone with him. Again and again across the room, finally Artemis slammed him right in front of him on the floor. He was trembling, weak, and bleeding. Lying on his front he reached out for his wand and the foot of Artemis crushed his hand and took the wand. He took his own wand and touched the tip of it to the tip of Broderick's wand, and pulled from it a large golden thread. The wispy thread was absorbed into Artemis wand, and it shined gold for a moment before returning to its black color. Artemis put the now useless wand of Broderick Muldoon in his cloak.

"New trick I learned, wand Fusion. I'll keep this as a souvenir." Artemis flicked his wand and turned his body over, and propped him up on his knees. "Allow me to do the same pleasure you did to me. Corripo Factultas", and Broderick arched his arms as his powers were ripped from him. Although he had just gone through one of the most painful curses known to wizards there was a look of relief and tranquility on Broderick's face now. He closed his eyes and looked up only to say.

"Thank...you...", nearly gasping for air Broderick closed his eyes again. Furious that Broderick should be feeling anything but pain right now he tortured him with the Crutiatus curse, than as before lifted him high into the air above the seats. And with a great roar Artemis finished him.

"Avada Kedavra!", the green charm hit Broderick with such force that he flew to the wall and landing like a ragdoll, and Artemis felt a wave of something, he wasn't sure what, but it felt good. He slowly approached Broderick's dead body. "You really love this church eh Broderick? Well now you can burn with it." And with that Artemis walked out of the destroyed sanctuary and down the front steps. Amicus flew to him and landed on his shoulder. Artemis stopped and turned to look at the massive church once again, and for the first time in twenty years used his musica. He began conducting and the glorious choir of the Hallelujah chorus rang through the air as the windows of the church were all blown out with large flames. The church was exploding sending large chunks of stone through the air and crumbling to the ground. The large steeple came crashing down and the grand church fell as it blew apart. Artemis walked away as the song continued to play and the church burned and collapsed. One down three to go. Artemis then disapparated and made his way to Malfoy Manor.

Night had begun to fall and Amicus flew off, toward the mansion. Artemis walked up the familiar path to the glorious mansion, and entered through the gates with a wave of his wand. As he approached the grand front doors to the mansion he felt the greatest feeling of nostalgia, as yet another piece of his grand puzzle fell into place. The mansion had not changed at all, not one bit; it was still dark and gloomy as ever. He looked into the living room, just to the right of the foyer, where a single light was shining; the fireplace. A high back chair held the figure of a man; however it didn't seem like the Abraxas he knew. The Abraxas he knew was a large man with a large puffed out chest and a grand chin. This man was old, weak, and diseased. But nevertheless he was indeed Abraxas Malfoy, his face was unmistakable as well as his pocket square containing his initials. Artemis approached the man lit only by the glow of the fire. Abraxas now had a greenish tinge to his skin, and several boils, he had a medical mask over his face to cover his frequent coughing and his breathing was a rough wheezing. Artemis recognized these symptoms as the fatal marks of dragon pox. Suddenly the prospect that Abraxas had been suffering from this disease for how many ever years now brought a smile to his face. Abraxas lifted his head weakly and looked into the face of Artemis Gridlock, and he saw his eyes widen with fear.

"Ah, so you recognize me." Abraxas looked as though he would like to cry for help or get up and run away, but so weak he couldn't even lift his arms, or scream in terror. "Hard to believe the great Abraxas Malfoy is now sitting here in his palace, wheezing like a dying animal." Artemis took a moment to take in this which made him very happy. His only regret was that he hadn't caused this pain. Artemis chuckled.

"Look at you Abraxas, you're pathetic. You must have known this day was coming." Artemis noticed the sack containing the head of Abraxas brother Dimitri sitting in next to the fireplace. "Ah I see you got my package, how many did you send after me? Did you send him? You sent your brother to me like a lamb to slaughter." Artemis laughed menacingly.

"At least you sending people to kill me meant that you were still alive, and you would be mine to finish." Artemis walked about the grand room; it looked just as he remembered it. He paced the room and talked to Abraxas, who was too weak to speak. "I must say this isn't how I imagined our reunion; I was thinking a glorious battle to the death. Well there you have it. Life's full of little disappointments isn't it." Artemis wandered over to the drink cart and poured himself a drink.

"So how are the wife and kids eh?" They're not here are they; I don't sense anyone else in this house. So the question is where are they?" Artemis looked down at Abraxas who sat weakly in his chair. Artemis saw he couldn't speak and threw his glass into the flames making a large ball of flame shoot from the fireplace. "WHERE ARE THEY?" Abraxas was now trembling in his chair, frightened and alone. Artemis smiled. "No matter, I will find them."

"I wonder Abraxas who is it who's taking care of you. Ah I see, they've left you here to die. Just waiting until you go." Artemis flicked his wand and Abraxas' chair spun round and with another flick the chair flew back and stopped just before the large tall mirror. Than the chair spun so Abraxas was facing the mirror and Artemis walked up behind him and stooped down and looked at him over his shoulder. Once again Abraxas shook with fear.

"You were like a father to me Abraxas, and I was like your son. Now I've returned home and I've come to repay you for what you took from me, and for what you did to her." There was a pause as Artemis gazed into the mirror at Abraxas and saw the fear in his eyes. Artemis bent down and spoke right into his ear, "What do you think if that, DADDY!" Artemis spun his chair back again and sent it zooming across the floor and crashing into the wall, then proceeded to spin him again and send him crashing into the mirror shattering large pieces of reflecting glass. Abraxas was shaking furiously in fright. Artemis turned his back to Abraxas cradling his wand. "I've picked out a very special curse for you Abraxas. Consider it a gift from me to you. Scelero!" A crimson charm hit Abraxas where he sat, and it covered him then disappeared. Slowly Artemis saw the curse take effect. Blood began to ooze out of Abraxas' nose than his ears, and then from the corners of his eyes. Soon Abraxas was spitting up blood through his mouth and the blood seeped down him and onto his chair and made a large puddle on the floor. He gurgled as his choked on his own blood, and finally after a while he stopped shaking and died. Artemis saw the gruesome scene and smiled; Abraxas in his chair, in a puddle of broken mirror and blood.

Artemis turned and looked at the large Malfoy crest on the wall. He saw the large shield with the crossing swords, and the family's motto _sanctimonia vincet semper. _Artemis waved his wand and the crest flew off its place on the wall above the mantle. Artemis burned these words in into the wall where the family crest was:

I'm Back ~AG

When they see this, they will all know of his return. Amicus flew into the open window and perched himself on the mantle admiring Artemis new burnt etching. Where Amicus had perched Artemis noticed something odd; a family portrait with the members of the family moving, and blinking as did most pictures in the wizarding world, but the family was not as he had remembered it. The Malfoy family portrait he remembered was of Abraxas, the head of the house, his wife and Artemis' secret love Adora, and their son Lucius, only six years old at the time Artemis had been betrayed, but there was another. Adora looked just as beautiful as always, and Abraxas had looked much older and weaker but this must've been before he became ill because it was the strong willed and broad shouldered Abraxas he knew not the miserable pathetic pile he had just murdered. He recognized the face and mess of blonde hair of Lucius, only he was much older. Twenty six he should be now, however there was another boy he did not recognize. He looked about twenty, and had very short shaved hair. Could this be another Malfoy child, Lucius' brother perhaps? He looked on the back of the portrait and saw the name of the artist who had made the magical painting. The signature of a man called Phineas Greene. Although it was a long shot, this man may know where Adora and Lucius are, as well as know who this new boy was. The next step was finding this artist, and learning just who this new Malfoy was.


	13. When One Door Closes A Window Opens

Ch 13-When One Door Closes A Window Opens

Artemis returned to his new flat and began searching for this Phineas Greene, as well as searching archives, newspapers, and so on to try and find some reference to the mystery Malfoy boy. However with no success, there didn't seem to be a reference anywhere concerning who he was, or even if he was a Malfoy, it could be that he's a friend of the family. He didn't look like the classic Malfoy though. He had a thinner face, and short hair; the Malfoys encouraged longer wavy, blonde hair. He was sad to see that in the picture Lucius had lost his familiar smile, and energy. No doubt being Abraxas son for 25 years does more than leave a bruise. He now had the same sinister and disgusted smile his father had. Being a magical painting, the figures moved in their space, this means that they not only show the expression they were showing at the time, but also what they were feeling, by their subtle expressions and movements. This means the painter has to be especially talented in order to capture those feelings in the portrait. He could see Adora, faking a smile, pretending to be happy, and then there was Abraxas showing his usual smirk and Lucius now with the same expression, but this mystery boy seemed like his mother; longing, sad, and tormented.

Finding Phineas Greene was considerably easier though, apparently one of the most skilled wizard artists of our time. Charges a pretty penny for his paintings though. Although he seems to travel for most of his portraits he has a studio just outside of Hogsmeade village. He sent out Amicus and began to make his way out. Winter was approaching and the snow had begun to fall these past few days. Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade were very beautiful when covered with a blanket of snow. Just outside the village there stood a circular cabin, like a giant octagon with a circular peaked roof. This reminded him of the gamekeepers hut at Hogwarts. He approached the front door and knocked with no answer, he tried again with no success. The door was unlocked, and Artemis unsheathed his wand and entered. The inside was extraordinary; paintings covering every inch of the walls, not a bare spot of wall anywhere. There were standing portraits and paintings on stands that cluttered the whole inside of the cabin. Tarps laid periodically throughout the hut and stands filled with brushes and paints and other magical objects were laid about. Artemis felt quite awkward due to the fact that all the people in the hundreds of paintings were staring at him and not all of them friendly stares either. One of them spoke to him, and he was unable to spot which painting it was at first.

"Who are you?" Came the raspy old voice of some old wizard from a painting just above eye level next to the door. Although he felt ridiculous, Artemis responded to the man in the painting.

"I'm looking for Phineas Greene, is he home?"

"What do you want with our Finny eh?" This voice was that of an elderly woman from behind him.

"I just want to speak to him about a portrait he did", another voice came from a painting of what looked like an English general standing tall and chest puffed out. Just below the old woman. His voice was deep and very proper.

"Well he's not home; I dare say we haven't seen him in awhile. Out shopping for paints and all that, artist you know."

"Do you know when he might be back?" A voice from another wall echoed out, this one of a professor standing behind a desk filled with vials and potions. He had he look of a mad scientist.

"What's eeh on bout now?"

"Wants to know where Finny's gone to." said the old woman.

"Not here is he now? Responded the professor. A little girl from a painting low to the ground spoke out now.

"I do miss him though, but he's gone for some supper." Artemis asked out of curiosity.

"But he said he was out getting paints?" The paintings were all shifting about now. The general spoke in.

"That's what she meant, slip of the tongue old chap. Only a little one you see." Artemis could see all the paintings shifting their eyes around to one another. He came across a painting of a man in a plaid suit, with a large polka dot bow tie and large bug-eyes glasses. He was shifting his eyes the most, even sweating. Artemis approached this painting and saw him shaking.

"How bout you, do you have any idea where he is?" Artemis asked with a smile. Another painting tried to stop him from answering.

"Oh he's...a...a mute! Cant say a word can you?"

"Nope I cant! Blast!" The other paintings were shifting around now and mumbling to one another. As Artemis focused in on him he became increasingly nervous and red.

"Any idea where he is?" said Artemis. With lips trembling the painting tried responding.

"Nnnnn...nnnnn...nnnnnnoooo?" Artemis saw his eyes shifting and they locked on to something. Artemis turned round to see a figure moving through the stands and paintings. The old woman screamed.

"He's on to ya Finny! Run!" A man pushed aside to paintings he was hiding behind and bolted for the door, running right past Artemis. All the paintings were yelling.

"Run old boy!"

"Get outta here mate!"

"Run Finny run!" The man nearly got to the door, when Artemis threw a charm at his feet causing him to stumble. Artemis walked over to the man he assumed to be Phineas Greene and picked him up by his collar and slammed him against a painting in which the occupant ran out of his frame. Phineas repeatedly protested.

"Look, I'm sorry. Tell Jordan I'll have his money by next week. I swear!"

"I'm not here for your money" said Artemis with a somewhat clearer understanding of why he was hiding.

"Oh", said Phineas, "Well then, how can I help you?" He flashed a big phony smile. Artemis dropped him and he crumbled onto the floor. He wasn't exceptionally tall, but he was thin and shifty looking. He had square glasses, and wore a horizontally striped long sleeve sweater. One stripe of dark green, the other light green, even his pants were green. Clearly he got too much of a kick out of his last name being a color. His hair was short brown and spiked at the front. He was a young man too, probably no more than twenty.

"So would you like a portrait done? I'm afraid I'm a little swamped at the moment, but if you come back another time I'm sure we could..."

"I want to know who this is", Artemis showed Phineas the miniature portrait of the Malfoys he had duplicated the other night. Artemis pointed at the face of the mystery boy.

"I don't know", said Phineas innocently. Artemis could see in his eyes he was lying. So Artemis grabbed him by the collar again and slammed him into the wall just as before.

"Tell me who he is, and I'll at least let you live." Phineas became very scared, but as if even more scared to tell the truth he lied once again.

"I dunno, I swear!" Artemis was starting to loose his patience and as a result he lifted Phineas by the collar he held onto and threw him into a collection of stands that littered the shack. Toppling several paintings and stands as his body was thrown into the mass of clutter. Artemis thrusted aside the things on the floor with his wand and approached Phineas again. He picked him up again.

"WHO IS HE?" As astonishing as it sounds Phineas lied yet again.

"I don't know." Artemis threw Phineas yet again, hitting the wall and slumping down to the floor.

"Perhaps the Cruciatus curse will jog your memory." Artemis pulled out his wand, and Phineas arm shot out in protest.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! I know who he is?" the young artist composed himself and came to a stand.

"Tell me", said Artemis.

"I can't", Artemis once again was getting very impatient. He rushed up to him and grabbed him and once again pointed his wand; pressing it into his cheek. "You don't understand they'll kill me."

"I'll kill you! Now tell me who he is!" There was a pause that lingered in the air as Phineas contemplated telling the truth.

"Alright, alright I'll tell you but you have to prote..." a green arc of light shot through the window above the sink and struck Phineas in the back. His eyes went up and he fell forward, his dead body flopped into Artemis' arms. Through the window Artemis could see a man, standing in the snow with his long flowing black robes contrasting the pure white outside. He saw him with a wand in his hand standing at a distance. Was it Tom? Artemis threw the body aside and climbed the sink and threw himself through the window and bolted for the man. Just before Artemis could raise his wand and stop him, the man spun his cloak round and disapparated and was gone.

Artemis turned over Greene's cabin all the while his paintings were shouting at him. He found nothing though. From what he was able to get out of some of the paintings Phineas was quite the gambler. It appears he painted the Malfoy's portrait in order to settle a gambling debt he had with Abraxas. There were a number of people who wanted him dead, but how curious that it should happen while Artemis had come to see him, and that he was killed just as he was about to tell him who the other person in the painting was. This couldn't be a coincidence, he needed answers and for now the trail had run cold. Nothing he could find led him to where Tom was hiding, or where Adora was. His answer did not come until later that night.

Artemis had returned to his flat defeated, not knowing where he would begin his search. He searched all his documents and records again for any reference to the Malfoy's or another child; nothing, at all. He found plenty of references to Abraxas, Adora, and Lucius; even Dobby was mentioned in an article about the hard lives of house elves. No mention at all to another child, or a cousin, or someone who came to live with them. Nothing! It was all so frustrating; Artemis sat at his desk rubbing his head. It was nearly one o' clock in the morning. As much as he wanted to keep working he needed rest. He made sure his flat was locked and secure, and laid down and went to sleep.

Artemis did something he hadn't really done in awhile. He dreamed, about Adora mostly. He was in the country, where Broderick had sent him after he took his powers. It was a bright and sunny day, and the gleam of the sunlight reflected off Adora's beautiful blonde hair. He was sitting with her on a swing on the porch of a beautiful white house. Lucius was still as he had remembered a young vibrant five year old playing in the yard. There were no words but Adora was sitting with him, her head rested on his chest, and she looked up at him into his eyes and he smiled, and she smiled back. Suddenly the sky grew dark and the sunlight disappeared. Artemis saw the clouds roll in and the thunder boomed and the lightening arched across the sky. He looked down and saw Lucius had changed; he was now as he had seen him in the picture. Fully grown and smiling sinisterly, he had in his hand Abraxas' snake cane, and pulled out his wand and pointed it straight at him. Artemis clutched Adora to protect her, but when he looked down at her she had changed. Held in his arms now was none other than Tom, Voldemort, smiling menacingly. Artemis awoke with a start and could feel Amicus pecking at his cheek.

At first he was irritated at this interruption, but then Amicus pointed his beak for the bedroom door. Under the door there came a faint light that was growing closer and closer. Artemis immediately rose himself out of bed, and grabbed his wand. He positioned himself next to his door, flat against the wall wand pointed for the door. The light under the door was growing brighter and brighter. Soon whoever this was would be upon him. He heard the footsteps climbing the stair and then just outside his door. The steps halted just outside his door, he expected something clever. Some kind of spell, but he simply opened the door and started walking through the door. The light at the end of his wand illuminated the room dimly, but in the dark of the night it was difficult to see who it was as he was facing away from him, but he was shorter than Artemis and he was thin. This couldn't be Tom, who was as tall as Artemis. This mystery intruder made his way for Artemis bed. Artemis pointed his wand right for the back of his head.

"Drop it." the person gave a terrified gasp, and muttered to himself.

"Oh God", he dropped his wand which landed with repeated clinks on the floor. "Please don't hurt me." he said in a horrified tone.

"Shut up", Artemis said forcefully as he grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him across the room. He began to whimper with fear, and he pulled him to the window. Artemis peered out from cover. The snow covered streets of Diagon Alley were deserted. He forced him down on his knees and pointed his wand right for his bowed head. His hands were raised in surrender, and he was trembling.

"Please don't kill me."

"Who sent you?"

"I...I can't tell you."

"Well, goodbye then."

"No! No wait! Voldemort sent me I'm a death eater." This boy pulled up his sleeve and revealed a tattoo on his forearm of a skull with a snake coming out of the mouth.

"So you work for Tom."

"Who's Tom?"

"Where is Tom? I mean where is Voldemort?"

"He's...he's at...his mansion in Little Hangleton, the Riddle Mansion."

"Thanks much, now goodbye."

"Wait, but I told you!"

"And now youre going to die."

"No Wait! I can help you! I know all about Voldemort's operation, all his partners, his supporters, his bases of operation everything! I can help you!"

Artemis prepared his wand, but stopped. He had a thought, he thought of himself years ago. He saw himself in him, he couldn't have been more than sixteen, and he was scrawny with short greased up hair. Why would Tom send this pathetic young boy to defeat him? He realized that he was just like him, a lamb led to slaughter, not expected to return. He lowered his wand. He had an idea. "If you're so willing to change sides why should I trust you?"

"Because you're gonna kill him aren't you. I like being on the winning side." Artemis smiled and looked down at the boy.

"I may have use for you. You will be my spy from within his organization." Artemis smiled and then looked back down at the boy. "What is your name?

"Hawksworth, Xavier Hawksworth." Artemis had heard of the Hawksworth family, a wealthy pure blood family.

"Your father is Dedalus Hawksworth yes?"

"Yeah" he said sullenly.

"He know about this little nightcap?"

"Yeah, he suggested it actually." Artemis felt compelled to tell him.

"You should know he sent you here to die."

"What? No he didn't", Xavier said with disbelief.

"What chance did you really have against me? I'm more powerful than you can ever imagine. He sent you here to die, believe me I know."

"He didn't send me to die, I volunteered. I wasn't ready."

"But I'll bet that didn't stop him from signing you up for this little assignment." Xavier just sat there, defeated. Facing the inevitable truth but in denial. Denial that his own father had sent him to his death, conspired together with Tom; just as Abraxas had done with Tom to send him to Broderick, knowing that he would be defeated. "It seems you have a vendetta, a score to settle just as I do. Join me and together we will make them pay. You find the targets, and ill take them out. We'll make hit Tom where it hurts. Are you in?" The boy seemed to contemplate the prospect of revenge, and then he grinned.

"Yes." Artemis returned a smile and then offered his hand and helped Xavier to his feet. They shook hands and then Artemis remembered something. He went to his desk and grabbed the small copy of the Malfoy portrait. He pointed to the mystery boy in the painting.

"Do you know who this is?"

"Amadeus? Yeah, that's Abraxas other boy, Lucius' younger brother."

"How much younger?"

"Bout five years." Artemis figured he was born about twenty years ago; just as he had left.

"Why can't I find any records of him?"

"Well Abraxas liked to keep him all under wraps, didn't like all those rumors about him not being a real Malfoy, probably the hair I guess; only Malfoy ever not to have bleached blonde hair. Voldemort keeps him pretty secret too, along with his mother." Artemis looked up from the picture wide eyed.

"Adora?"

"Yeah, moved into the Riddle Mansion with her two boys when Abraxas got sick."

"You're sure she' still there?"

"Yeah I'm sure", Artemis thought that once he had killed Abraxas Adora would be free from the obedience curse laid by her parents. Perhaps Tom kept her prisoner, or maybe she had finally been broken. This thought broke his heart that maybe her spirit had died. He couldn't be sure though. Xavier broke his train of thought. "So what should I do?"

"For now, go back, tell them you couldn't find me", he called for Amicus who flew to his arm. "Look for this raven with the purple eyes, and give this to Adora, but make sure you are not seen." Artemis fished through his bag and pulled out Adora's emerald heart necklace she had given him all those years ago. "Tell her I'm coming for her."

"Alright, I will", Artemis glared at Xavier and paced toward him leading him into the wall.

"Be warned, if you cross me, or tell Tom of my whereabouts, you will suffer more than you can possibly imagine. You will beg for the sweet release of death, and only then will I be merciful enough to grant it. Understand?" With this word Xavier's back hit the wall and he fearfully shook his head. "Good, now get out of here, and don't forget your wand." Xavier scrambled and picked up his wand and began to head out the door.

"Xavier, when you see the Raven, come to me, and don't be late." Xavier just shook his head and made his way out of the room and down the stairs. Out the window Artemis saw Xavier make his way down the lonely snowy road of the alley. "Well Amicus, it seems we have a third now. Only time will tell if he'll be worth keeping alive." Artemis pet Amicus soft feathers, then smiled and went back to bed.


	14. In The Belly Of The Beast

Ch. 15-In The Belly Of The Beast

Artemis now had two people within Tom's organization working for him, and he couldn't help think that it wasn't a coincidence. Whereas Artemis believed Xavier quite fully, he wasn't sure whether Desra would be as loyal. Two weeks had passed since he had stopped three "Death Eaters", as they were called (stupid name), from assassinating the Minister of Magic and the year was coming to a close. The 1980s were soon upon them, and Artemis had been at this for months now, and he was still no closer to killing Tom or destroying the Ministry. To make matters worse he still hadn't heard back from Adora. Granted he did receive the message she had left with Desra, although he couldn't be sure it was from her even though she had her necklace.

However in those two weeks a lot had happened. Artemis had hijacked a weapons shipment on its way to Riddle Manor, and was now sitting on more magical weapons than he knew what to do with. Exploding rocks, fire crystals, a whole bunch of cursed books, a stores worth of deadly and useful potions such as pre-brewed polyjuice potion as well as other potion ingredients, a fleet of broomsticks, bags upon bags of floo powder, and many more dark objects. He had killed a few lackey Death Eaters outside of Hogsmeade who had just finished boasting to a group of apparent dark wizards inside the Hogs Head Inn about their torture and murder of a muggle family. And just yesterday Artemis had killed Tiberius Finks within the Ministry the same man who had tampered with the floo network and let Desra and the other two Death Eaters into the Minister's house. He had to make sure no one could get into her abode again.

Artemis was sitting at his desk in his flat, planning his next move, comparing his notes, trying desperately to find a way into Riddle Manor. There was a frantic pounding as feet clambered up the stairs. Someone burst through the door and Artemis sprang up and drew his wand as he grasped the intruder by the throat and slammed him against the wall. When Artemis had time to let his thoughts catch up with him, he realized he was grasping the throat of Xavier.

"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT SHOWING UP UNANNOUNCED?" Xavier choked on his words.

"I'm...sor...sorry." Artemis let him go and he coughed and gasped for breath. "I had to come; Voldemort's ordered several Death Eaters to the Ministry archives."

"Why?"

"I don't know I didn't hear, they're looking for something, but I'm not sure what."

"When are they going?"

"There already there." Artemis was taken aback, how was he going to intercept them he had no time to prepare, and he hadn't planned out invading the Ministry of Magic just yet, he had no choice though, if he wanted to know exactly what Tom was up to and how to get to him, this would be his chance.

"You'd better get back before your missed", said Artemis searching around his apartment.

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to find out what Tom's up to, and then stop him. Aha!" Artemis pulled out a small vile containing about a dozen dark hairs. Hairs he had pulled off of Tiberius Finks for just such an occasion. Although he had no time to study his life and would be completely helpless if someone tried to strike up a conversation with him. Still he knew he didn't have much time, so he grabbed one of his bottles of polyjuice potion and added three or four hairs to the mixture. The hairs sizzled and finally settled, and Artemis swigged down the disgusting potion. Xavier watched in horror as Artemis' skin shuffled and his hair grew. When the pain receded Artemis looked into his mirror and found he was the man he had killed but a day ago. But because Artemis had vanished his body nobody should know he's dead.

Artemis grabbed another two bottles of polyjuice potion and added Tiberius' hairs to them in case he needed more. Tiberius was much taller than Artemis, he had long black hair he tied into a ponytail. He took the clothes Tiberius was wearing that day, a black a dark blue pinstripe shirt and black pants. He pocketed Tiberius' wand, put on his traveling cloak and set out for London.

Artemis had to get used to walking like Tiberius, not that he had a distinct walk about him, but Artemis had never been tall and lanky, therefore he had to extend his steps more than usual, while at the same time not looking like he had some sort of leg disorder to the people of London. He found the telephone booth he had trailed some wizards to and stepped inside. Artemis had bribed a Ministry official for the code to get through; he hoped it was worth the hundred galleons he had paid for it. Artemis clutched the receiver in his hand and dialed the numbers: six...two...four...four...two. A cool female voice spoke. "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, please state your name and business.

"Tiberius Finks, Department of Magical Transportation here to search the Archives."

"Thank you, please take your badge and attach it to your vest." Out of the coin slot came a badge that said _Tiberius Finks, Archive Search. _"The Minsitry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day." The telephone box lowered and Artemis was now in the Ministry of Magic itself, seeing hundreds of people coming and going, shuffling around the busy lobby, and the large fountain of the wizard, elf, centaur, and goblin. This was the first time Artemis had been inside the Ministry or even seen what it looked like. It was rather a brilliant display, but he was more nervous than he had ever been. Anyone of these people could know who he was, and if they answered him a serious question Artemis would be in real trouble. He saw the elevators at the far end of the room and headed toward them, moving with the crowd. Just then his worst fear was realized.

"Oi! Fink!" At first Artemis didn't notice, but as the man jumped to see over the heads of the crowd and dashed toward him he noticed as he continued to shout. "Hey Tiberius! Fink! Fink!" Artemis finally remembered his façade and turned to meet the man.

"Oh hello...you"

"Fink where were you yesterday, you missed it."

"Oh yes, yes afraid I did", Artemis said with a fake disappointment. "Sorry to miss out on the festivities."

"I wouldn't exactly call a board meeting festive, eh Fink?" He gave a laugh, and Artemis returned a rather fake one. "Well Bertie's kinda heated about it mate; upset you weren't there, especially with all this floo network chaos that's happened."

"Oh yes, what a nasty business."

"Well it's all fine and well for all those big cats upstairs to look down on us mice and tell us were not doin a proper job now in'it. We've got floo networks coming out our arses haven't we, I mean the Ministry alone has added eighty new networks, Hogwarts has requested about two dozen, and now that there more affordable were installing them in practically every wizard home, and don't even get me started on St. Mungos. A floo in every room bloody hell. So in all that rattled nonsense a few networks get mixed up, and one of them goes to the Minister's house, we fixed it, nothing happened, but here we are getting hell for it." He continued to ramble on as Artemis tried to end the conversation.

"Yes I quite agree such a mess. Well I best be..."

"Ya know now they think the network goin to the Minister's place wasn't an accident, think it was some conspiracy to kill her. Can you believe that? I told them, I told them Fink, right to their faces that they were barkin mad Fink. Told em the only bloaks with that kind of access are me and Fink and there ain't no way in hell that Fink is a Death Eater. Barkin mad ain't they, thinking you and me are Death Eaters, what a load of rubbish.

"Ha, me a Death Eater, what a laugh. Well I've got loads to..."

"Well don't be surprised if they come snoopin' 'round and askin' questions, they just got through with me about an hour ago. Some routine questions, you ain't got nothing to hide eh Fink. Just get it over with and we can start sortin' out this floo fiasco."

"Oh yes, I'll go do that straight away..."

"You alright Fink, you seem...distracted."

"Yes I quite alright, just have to get down to the archives."

"Oh well I'm goin' to the MLE it's on the way I'll go with ya." Artemis couldn't think of a reason to argue, and was sort of relieved, considering he didn't have a clue where the archives were. The two men made their way to the elevator with this person, whom Artemis had only just realized did not know his name to save his life. He talked the whole way there and all the way down to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. They passed down a hallway with a whole row of arches above which were all manner of different departments. _Underage Wizarding Office, Wand Registration Office, Memory Modification Office, Secrecy Containment Office, _and at the end of the hall was a large set of double doors, with the words _Auror Office _above them. Artemis made his way down the hall with his "friend" next to him. Out of the hallway labeled _Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, _came a plump red haired man in a tweed suit.

"Oh David glad I caught you." Well Artemis now knew his name.

"Hello Arthur, allow me to introduce you, Tiberius Fink, meet Arthur Weasley. Tiberius here is a wiz with floo networks, singlehandedly took care of the splinching crisis of forty five."

"Hello pleasure to meet you, now David it seems there's been a floo network left in a house that muggles have recently moved into, one of them dropped a left behind bag of floo powder and...well you can imagine." David showed signs of despair and frustration, so Artemis did the same. "Now I've talked to Charlie in Memory Modification, he's going to handle it this afternoon, but we need you to remove it from the network."

"No problem Arthur, I'll get to that before I go back to the office. Take care now, and give my best to Molly."

"Will do, take care." The red haired man proceeded back to his business and headed toward the elevators. Artemis began to follow David again, and he made a turn down the hall labeled _Currency Regulators Office_ he stopped and turned around.

"Aren't you going to the archives?"

"Yes."

"Well have you gone daffy? It's down the hall; make a right after the auror office."

"Oh yes, slipped my mind, one of those days you know."

"Don't I know it, take care Fink", and Artemis turned round and made sure he wasn't being followed as he approached the door labeled _Archives_. He entered the large set of doors and approached another door with a booth next to it; however no one was inside it. Artemis warily approached the booth, and there he saw what was supposed be the guard, dead on the floor. Artemis drew his wand, and warily pushed open the second door. The archives looked like a mixture of a library and a museum, all the lights were dimmed, many lamps were out. All around there was disarray, shelves overturned papers everywhere, books lay open on the floor, display cases and cupboards were smashed open revealing historical treasures that were now lying in heaps on the floor. Distantly he could hear smashing cabinets, shattering glass, and papers fluttering wildly. As he approached the chaotic sounds very stealthily, he could hear voices growing louder and louder.

"Ah, it ain't here!" said one voice. Then another retorted.

"Jus keep lookin." A third chimed in.

"We better bring somefin' back to 'im, or 'e ain't gonna be too 'appy now is 'e." Artemis hid behind a still standing bookcase, watching and listening.

"What exactly are we lookin for anyway?"

"You know what were lookin for; he showed us what it looked like."

"Yeah I know what it looks like, but why does he want it."

"Never mind why 'e wants it, point is 'e wants it."

"Why would it be here though, thing like that would be with a collector or a proud pure-blood."

"'e's 'ad us check everywhere else, 'e's gettin' desperate 'e is."

"Well Dumbledore's got the other one, maybe he has it."

"No the Dark Lord was in his office not too long ago, if he had it he'd have it on display like the other one."

"'e wouldn't display that, wouldn't be surprised if he had the whole set."

"You two go wrestle open that chest in the corner, we've go to at least check, I'll dig through all this rubbish maybe we missed it." The other two Death Eaters went out of sight. Perfect opportunity to take this one out while he's alone; Artemis slowly approached him wand pointed straight for him. He had to make it quiet, or the other two would come rushing in. Last thing he needs is the entire auror office coming in here. He had nearly reached him when Artemis' foot stepped on a piece of glass and made an awful cracking noise, and too his horror the Death Eater whipped around and was staring straight at him.

"Tiberius? What are you doing here? Scared me half to death!" Artemis put his wand down just in time as the other two Death Eaters came rushing back alerted by their counterparts alarm.

"What is 'e doin' 'ere?"

"Where have you been Tiberius we haven't seen you."

"We thought you were dead!" Artemis felt stunned, he had thought his cover was blown, that he would have to kill these three and then the whole Ministry would come down on him. He stood there for a minute, and then he started improvising.

"I had some things to take care of", began Artemis. "That bastard Gridlock nearly had me. I got away, but I had to lay low for awhile."

"The Dark Lord's been calling for you, he's been wanting to speak to you, when you didn't answer we assumed you were dead."

"I fought him off, then I heard you were all searching in the archives, thought I'd come by and lend a Ministry hand."

"Well a bit late now, were done here. Can't find the damn thing anywhere, I'm debating whether the thing even exists." One of the other Death Eaters chimed in.

"Nobody's ever seen it, all were going on is a legend." Artemis desperately wanted to ask what it is they were looking for, but he couldn't risk looking like he didn't know what he was talking about, he tried to weasel the answer out.

"Where else have you checked?"

"Everywhere, private collectors, museums, several Gringotts vaults, The Dark Lord even searched Hogwarts. Went in asking Dumbledore for a job can you believe that? Peeked around his office, and then searched the rest of the school. He came back with something, but not what he was looking for. We still don't know what it was he found." Artemis was disappointed, he had learned nothing.

"'e's not gonna be 'appy when we come back wif nofin."

"That's for sure." Artemis had to escape this trio, it was only a matter of time until they found out he was an imposter.

"Well you boys sure know how to clean a place out; I better get out of here before they link me to this." Artemis turned to walk away.

"Where do you think you're going? You're coming with us. The Dark Lord will be thrilled to know we found something." What could he do? Artemis couldn't argue, he had no choice.

"Alright then, how do we get out of here?" They smiled.

"Same way we came in, thanks to you." The three of them turned on their heels and made way to the back of the room where a sort of lounge area was with a grand fireplace. The Death Eater threw floo powder into the fireplace and emerald green flames burst forth as he spoke _"Riddle Manor". _

"Well come on, we don't wanna keep him waiting." The three of them stepped through the flames and disappeared. It had been nearly an hour, so Artemis pulled out one of his bottles of polyjuice potion and drained it quickly. He shook away the awful taste and took a deep breath and stepped through warm green flames. After feeling as though he was whirled on an amusement park ride he stepped through a fireplace, and was inside Riddle Manor itself.

The inside of the home was gloomy and old. It reminded Artemis like something of a haunted house. There was old wooden furniture, creaky wooden floors and stairs. The house was well kept, and obviously someone who was wealthy had lived here, but now it seemed like the house had no life to it, although people were still living in it the house seemed dead. Artemis was standing in what looked like the lounge; there was nothing but two high back chairs and a small table in between them. The three Death Eaters led him out of the room and into the gloomy dim hallway. The floors creaked with each of their steps as they made their way down the stairs from the second floor. To the right of the staircase was a long but enclosed corridor, and he could see that light was coming from the door. They turned left into the foyer and passed the front door, they came into the next room which was the dining room. The long table was littered with parchments, books, maps, and magical instruments. It reminded Artemis of the photographs he had seen as a boy of Hitler's war were several people in this room some seated, some pacing about or standing over the table looking at the parchments. Others were going in and out of the room, and at the end of the table sat the Dark Lord himself, Tom.

There was something different about him though; the handsome features in his face seemed to be fading and his skin was more pasty white than ever. His eyes were a menacing red, and the dark wavy hair that once topped his head was now shorter. He dressed differently too, whereas Artemis always remembered Tom dressing in a suit, he was now in black robes. On his left there was a woman with wild eccentric dark hair, she had a crazed look about her and was staring at Tom with some sort of school girl gaze. On his right there sat a man with a hooked nose and long black hair. His robes too were black but under it was more of a priest's robe, with buttons and a collar that went all the way up to his chin. He and Tom were speaking and as they entered Tom looked up and saw them come in.

"Ah, here he is at last, back from the dead I see Tiberius." Although Artemis wanted to strangle Tom with his bare hands he had to remain calm, and answered appropriately.

"Never truly dead my Lord." Tom gave a chuckle. As Artemis looked around he saw just how outnumbered he was. If he were discovered there would be no way of surviving. This was never part of any plan, but now he had to once again improvise.

"Where is it you've been Tiberius?" All eyes were on him now, but he kept calm and answered."

"Gridlock my Lord, he attacked me. I nearly made it away with my life, but I knew he was still seeking me out. So I am very sorry to have ignored your summonings my Lord, but I had to hide for my own safety."

"Of course my friend, just so happy to see you alive. Come; sit with us our meeting is just about to begin." Artemis took a seat at about the middle of the table on the side of the crazed looking woman. Others shuffled in and took their seats and several others stood around, standing like bodyguards around the doorways and windows. With a flick of Tom's wand, all the clutter on the table had vanished. "Now that all of you are here, let us begin." He waved his wand and in front of all appeared goblets full of wine. Everybody lifted their arms and pulled back their sleeves to reveal a tattoo of a skull with a winding snake coming out the mouth. Artemis knew he didn't have one of these when he got dressed before leaving for the Ministry. Everyone around the table grabbed their goblet and raised it high and in unison called out. _"Hail Lord Voldemort" _Artemis did the same action, and a stocky man sitting next to him with long dark hair and a beard spoke to him in a Russian sounding accent.

"Where es your dark mark?" he said in a threatening tone. Tom stepped in.

"Relax Igor, Tiberius is one of my many allies within the Ministry, therefore to keep his cover he does not bear my dark mark." As everyone depleted their goblets Tom winked at Artemis and he returned a forceful smile. Tom began the meeting by turning to the man on his right.

"What say you Severus? Are we any closer to killing Albus Dumbledore?" The man with the long black hair and hooked nose spoke.

"I'm afraid my Lord that as long as Dumbledore stays within the walls of Hogwarts, and unless we had a man on the inside, a simple assassination is not possible. The school is a complete fortress, protected by very advanced and ancient magic. The only way we could hope to kill him is to either lure him out of the castle, or launch a full attack on Hogwarts, which I do not believe our ranks could handle at the moment." A man at the other end of the table protested.

"We have thousands at our command!"

"As long as they have Dumbledore at their side we don't stand a chance."

"Bollocks", cried another wizard at the table. "He's not immortal! We could kill him." The man called Severus spoke back with more assertiveness.

"Don't be a fool Macnair, we cannot simply waltz into Hogwarts, there are several enchantments guarding it's grounds, plus all the professors there are exceptionally powerful as well. Not to mention a thousand or so students within its walls." The name called Macnair protested again.

"We can take on children!"

"Do not underestimate youth Macnair! They may be young but they can still use magic. Some of the Seventh years are even taught how to use the Unforgivable Curses. Not that you would know Macnair, being so brainless you probably never received an acceptance letter." The two men stood wands drawn, but Tom intervened.

"Enough!" As he waved his wand both men were forced back into their seats. "I shall make it very clear, I fully agree with Severus. An attack on Hogwarts would be suicide, especially with Dumbledore fighting alongside thousands at his command."

"Thank you my Lord", said Severus.

"You are as wise as you are loyal Severus Snape", said Tom. They head nods of respect and the meeting continued. "Where are we on our most recent attacks? Gideon, what of our attack on Fillbert Rufford?" A man in a long striped coat across from Artemis leaned forward. Artemis knew he had seen him before.

"Forgive me my Lord, but we were thwarted again by Artemis Gridlock." Now Artemis remembered now; he had killed a convoy of Death Eaters on their way to torch a man's house that worked at the Ministry and had refused to help Voldemort. Gideon had only just escaped by being a bloody coward.

"Bloody coward!" Yelled the woman to the left of Tom with the exceptionally wild hair.

"Calm yourself Bellatrix", said Tom.

"He came out of nowhere my Lord, he killed six of us. I only barely made it out alive." Tom had a look of disappointed anger on his face.

"You escaped by abandoning your comrades in battle! By being the slimy coward you are!" Tom pointed his wand at Gideon and whipped his wand making Gideon flop onto the table and slid toward Tom. Tom turned him over with another wave, he stared down at Gideon. "I will not tolerate cowardice in my ranks! Crucio!" Gideon yelled and seethed with pain. The rest of the table merely stared with blank faces. Artemis had to help himself smiling, knowing he had caused this. Tom stopped torturing him and spun him round and sent him sliding down the table and finally landing him in the chair at the far end of the table. Gideon sat there in the seat, weak.

"Avada Kedavra!" A green bolt shot and struck Gideon sending his body tipping back in the chair. Tom merely nodded to two of the Death Eaters standing guard, who scooped up the body and took it out of the room. And just as if nothing happened Tom continued with the meeting. "Artemis Gridlock has become quite the thorn in my side", I want him dead. No one here has been able to kill him; he has made fools of you all!" Everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Artemis didn't know he was feared this much by the Death Eaters, but it was satisfying. Voldemort snapped his fingers and out from the kitchen came a familiar face carrying a large wine jug. Xavier came hurriedly into the dining room and began refilling people's goblets. As he came upon Artemis he did a double take, realizing the man he was looking at was really Artemis in disguise. Artemis gave him a widened look and was returned by a face of mutual fear. Artemis now realized how Xavier was able to overhear the important conversations that Artemis had been using to cause trouble for Tom. "Fortunately one of my more competent Death Eaters has been able to infiltrate his trust, Desra." Artemis felt panicky, he looked over his shoulder and coming into the room was Desra McCloggin, wearing her long coat and high boots, her hair still a curly mess.

"Thank you my Lord." She walked to the end of the table where Gideon once laid, her boots clunking against the wooden floor with every step. She stood with her hands on the table. "I have used Gridlock's love for the Malfoy girl against him; he believes I am his spy." All the Death Eaters round the table chuckled, and Tom smiled. Artemis was swelling with anger, he knew now he couldn't trust Desra. Fortunately he hadn't told her where he lived, but she knew about Xavier, which meant he could be in serious danger. She would pay for this.

"Once I have his complete trust, I will lead him into our grasp, then my Lord, you will be able to kill him yourself." Tom let out a loud chuckle.

"Well done Desra, well done indeed. You have done well, and you shall be rewarded." Desra bowed and sat in the chair that Xavier had brought to her. "At least the assassination was not a complete failure. How are things at the Ministry Tiberius?" Artemis had to think fast.

"The Department of Magical Transportation is in disarray my Lord. Our recent endeavors have caused chaos, and I fear that soon I shall be discovered."

"Very well, you may stay here in my home until we triumph over the Ministry of Magic."

"That is most gracious of you my Lord." They exchanged smiles, and Tom then looked upon his followers once more. "If that is all then I suggest we adjourn, you all have much to do, and I need my rest." The Death Eaters all raised their goblets and toasted Tom once more. They all rose as he stood and was escorted out of the room by Snape and Bellatrix. Just before he left he turned back around and called to Xavier.

"Boy! Show Tiberius to his room."

"Yes my Lord", Xavier nervously came beside Artemis and led him out of the room and up the stairs. They walked down a corridor and passed several doors before stopping at one and opening it. Xavier stepped aside, and as Artemis entered the room he grabbed Xavier and pulled him in with him. He pushed him against the wall and spoke quietly, close to his face.

"How do I get out of here?"

"You can't." Artemis looked puzzled.

"You do it constantly."

"Yes, but they don't care where I go, they'd rather I leave and don't come back. But they'll care if you leave; you, or rather Tiberius, is important. They won't let him go without proper protection." Artemis thought for a moment.

"You have to get out of here. Desra knows you're working for me, and it's only a matter of time before she remembers."

"Why didn't she mention it at the meeting then?"

"We don't have time for that; here." Artemis reached into his pocket and pulled out an old key. "Here is the key to my flat, let yourself in, and tell Amicus where I am and of my situation."

"What situation?" 

"That I am trapped inside Tom's home and in a little more than an hour I shall turn back into myself, and I cannot hope to fight off everyone here."

"Okay", Artemis asked only one more thing of him.

"Where's Adora?"

"She's kept upstairs, in the attic. Special room made just for her up there."

"Alright, I'll make contact with her, just get yourself out, and hurry." Xavier nodded his head and pocketed the key Artemis gave him, then while trying to remain casual, left the room. He gave him a few moments and then carefully checked all around and left his room. At the far end of the hallway he could see a doorway leading to a dark set of stairs going up. Artemis could hear the other Death Eaters letting Xavier out, and then chuckling. The floors creaked with his every step, and he passed several doors with which he knew there to be sleeping Death Eaters behind. He climbed the old rotting steps up to the attic and was immediately met with a door. Artemis took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A familiar voice was heard within.

"Come." Artemis opened the door, and sitting on the edge of the bed was the woman he had loved all these years. She turned her head to gaze at him, and he was graced with the sight of her beautiful face, just as he remembered her. She was still radiant and glowing as ever, although she looked more worn, Artemis still felt she was the most gorgeous woman in the world. Yet when she looked upon him, she looked confused. "Mr. Fink? How can I help you?" Artemis was stunned, he could only smile at her, however this wasn't how he imagined their reunion. Artemis reached inside his coat and pulled from it the necklace he had taken from Desra. Adora's face grew large with fear.

"Where did you get that?" Artemis could no think of what to say.

"He wanted me to tell you he's coming for you."

"What? No! I don't want him to."

"It's too late he's already here."

"What? But how? Where is he?" Artemis could feel the polyjuice potion wearing off, and he was now changing back.

"He's right in front of you." Artemis was now himself again. Without hesitation Adora lurched forward, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him for what seemed like eternity. Artemis laid his hands around her and felt her soft blonde hair in his fingers. They kissed and kissed with the passion that had been held back for twenty years. Although he wanted to do more, he was still in danger, he had to act fast. "Come with me, quickly!" He pulled on her arm yet for some reason she resisted. "Adora, come on! We have to go now!"

"I can't." Artemis had been afraid of this.

"Is it Lucius?" Adora winced as if the name was a painful stab to her heart.

"No, Lucius is gone, Tom ruined him, he's not the little boy we once knew." Adroa was fighting back tears. "He did more damage than Abraxas ever could."

"Why can't you go then?"

"My other son, Amadeus."

"Well where is he? I'll get him now."

"Artemis, it's not that simple. He keeps him locked up downstairs, he says he'll kill him if I ever leave, and he keeps me here so you don't destroy Riddle Manor. Amadeus is under constant guard, I hardly ever see him, but I hear him. He makes music Artemis, beautiful music just like you used to." Artemis looked at her, with puzzled eyes. "He's your son, Artemis. Amadeus is your son." A flicker of fear flashed through Artemis' mind, yet at the same time there was a small glimpse of happiness. Artemis had a son, a son with the woman he loved. He suddenly realized things were far more complicated than he could ever have imagined.

"I will come back for you."

"You have to hurry; I fear it won't be long before he does to him what he did to my Lucius." Adora buried her head in her hands sobbing with the last few words. Artemis held her close, and ran his hands through her hair. He didn't want to leave, but unfortunately he had no choice.

"I will come for you, and Amadeus, and I'll take care of you both. I'll stand by you no matter what, and once Tom is dead we'll go far away. Like we said we would." Both of them stared into each others eyes, his eyes lit up with love, her eyes wet with sorrow. 

"Enough now, you have to go. I'll be alright." Artemis pulled out of his coat his last bottle of polyjuice potion. He kissed Adora goodbye and downed the last of the potion. He was Tiberius again, he had to hurry. He looked back at Adora one last time before shutting her door. He had only one hour and would take this rare opportunity to snoop around the house. He quietly went down the squeaky steps and down the thin corridor he had seen before. The swinging door at the end revealed a dirty old kitchen; house elves were tending to the dish-work. All around the kitchen, on racks hanging from the ceiling and from hooks on the walls, hung what seemed to be hundreds of garlic rings. They gave off quite a pungent aroma.

The elves looked up at him as he entered, with miserable faces which turned back to their work. One elf Artemis recognized as Dobby, the house elf who served the Malfoys. He clearly had not won his freedom as Artemis had hoped; he must be working for Tom, on behalf of Adora. There was a wooden door across the room and to the left; he slowly approached it while the elves scowled at him all the way. He opened it and entered into a dusty storage room with a stone floor; a single light bulb hung from the ceiling with a pull string. Large racks were lined against the wall, and in the corner were several barrels; stacked all over some all the way to the ceiling. Artemis approached one of the barrels and pulled the large cork from it. Artemis knew not to stick his hand in a barrel of unknown material, so he took Tiberius' wand and dipped it into the dark barrel. When he pulled it out he found the wand dripping thick with crimson blood. Artemis was taken aback; what was Tom doing with numerous barrels of blood?

Music, Artemis could hear music somewhere. Beautiful music was coming from what seemed like the floor. He followed the source and came to several crates on the floor. Artemis started moving the crates and underneath was a door. He reached for the handle when a voice startled him.

"What are you doing here Tiberius?" The voice was cold, and he recognized it as the man who sat at the right hand of Tom at the meeting. He turned around and found himself face to face with the man called Severus Snape.

"I dropped my wand and it rolled under the door, so I was moving the crates to..."

"Spare me your frivolities Finks; I know your true intentions slithering about as you always do. The Dark Lord may trust you, but _I..._do not." Artemis didn't know what to say; apparently Tiberius and Snape didn't trust each other. Once again he had to improvise.

"Do not call my loyalties into question Severus; I have my doubts about you as well."

"There were only four people involved in the assassination attempt, two are now dead, and one hardly escaped with her life. That leaves you Tiberius, the only one who could've tipped off Artemis Gridlock."

"I played my part Severus, I got them in, _that_ is where my services ceased."

"There is more to serving the Dark Lord than providing services Fink, I shall see to it that you are exposed for the stinking rat you are. Good evening." Snape turned on his heel and walked out of the room. It was too dangerous to get through the trap door, now of which he realized must contain Amadeus, his son. Artemis had been snooping for nearly forty five minutes. His time was almost up and he had to get out of here.

He went to the front door, where two Death Eaters stood guarding the front entrance. They stopped him.

"Sorry Tiberius, you can't leave."

"Oh but I can." The two guards looked at him confused when suddenly the front door exploded open with erupting purple flames as a winged creature made entirely of dancing violet embers flew through the door, blasting the two Death Eaters aside. The flaming Amicus landed on Artemis arm, who pulled out his wand and waved it across his face turning him back into himself. With a smile Artemis walked out of Riddle Manor, released Amicus into the night shining with a brilliant purple glow, and he swirled into a streaming tower of black smoke and disappeared into the night.


	15. A Brute And A Snake

Ch. 14-A Brute & A Snake

The next week went by with relative ease. Artemis was actually able to sleep now, and his new relationship with the Hawksworth was paying off greatly. Xavier had been passing plans, maps, documents, and more to Artemis directly from Tom himself. For the next couple of days Xavier would go to the Three Broomsticks pub and when he saw Amicus he knew it was safe to go up to Artemis' flat. Then they would converse. The topic, Tom and his operation, his allies, his enemies, his plans, and his slip-ups; with this information Artemis was able to construct a plan-of attack. But he was smart, and so was Tom, he couldn't simply burst in gun-ho, he would surely be outmatched. He needed to weaken the structure before he could hope to topple it.

Xavier had done a tremendous job of keeping himself hidden and had managed to be his spy for a whole week without getting killed. Artemis truthfully hadn't expected him to last a day. However he was proving himself to be a valuable asset, and Artemis was wary to develop feelings for the boy. He remembered all to well what feelings and connections can do to you, once they are ripped from you. Artemis sent Amicus out the window to the Three Broomsticks, and just like it had been, it was followed shortly by Xavier coming up the way, trekking through the snow and finally to his front door. As soon as Xavier stepped through the door he put his wand on the ground and his hands in the air. He knew the drill by now. Artemis came and collected his wand and patted him down to search for any other weapons, and used his wand to scan him to make sure he wasn't under the Imperious curse, or had some sort of listening charm on him.

They sat together at Artemis drawing table as usual and discussed what Xavier had brought for him today.

"Here are the schematics for Riddle Manor. Took me a while to track em down from the local records, cost me all the galleons you gave me too."

"Excellent, anything else?" Xavier always had a certain excitement to him, and these meetings always felt like he was showing these treasures he had come across, then he waited for the gratitude as a son waits for a father's approval. Although it never came.

"Yeah loads! I've got...a list of death eaters hidden in the Ministry, a shipment order for some magical weapons, and this.

"What is it?"

"I dunno, it's all encoded" Artemis grabbed the piece of parchment and scanned it over. It appeared to be a map of some sort, an attack plan on paper that was for sure. However all the notes, names, and bearings on the map were all encoded, all the words appeared as just gibberish, complete nonsense. Artemis pointed his wand at the parchment.

"Reveal you secrets", nothing happened. There was no other way to see what this document said without decoding it. Perhaps there was a keyword to decode it by, but it could be anything. Artemis slumped back into his chair; he needed to know what this document said. It wouldn't be encoded if it wasn't important. Artemis laid his head on his desk, and he smelled something odd. He smelled blood, but not his own blood. On the bottom of the page were drops of blood stained into the parchment. Artemis then understood what needed to be done. He read about certain vaults or documents that required blood of the user to unlock them. They were impossible to reverse, and cannot be tricked. This was to ensure whoever looked at this document was a true death eater. Artemis looked up at Xavier and saw him petting Amicus facing away from him.

"Xavier?"

"Yeah." The boy looked back at him over his shoulder but still devoted his attention to the raven pushing its head affectionately against his hand.

"I figured out the code, come here and have a look." Xavier got up and sat on the stool beside Artemis peering over the parchment. Once he was near him Artemis seized his hand. Xavier squirmed and tried to get his hand back.

"What the hell are you...AHHH!" Using his wand Artemis glided above his palm, and a cut appeared where the wand once was. Blood seeped out of the wound, and Xavier winced in pain and confusion. Artemis, his hand still around his wrist closed Xavier's hand and three drops of blood came from his closed hand and fell onto the parchment. Artemis released his hand and Xavier pulled his hand back close to him. Why did you..." Artemis cut him off.

"Come and have a look." Xavier glanced at the map, and now the words changed they twisted around and became actual words. "It required blood payment, the blood of a death eater."

"Could have warned me." Artemis ignored this query, and glanced at the now un-coded parchment that lay before him. It was definitely a map more of a schematic, and now it became clear as to what it was the schematic of. Some sort of estate, a large house. Arrows were drawn across the landscape which all pointed to the house and many more arrows and directions were written inside the estate as well. Tiny descriptions were written next to each of the arrows. Such as "Enter through invaded floo network _(await confirmation from Tiberius Finks)"._

"Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Tiberius is one of us, works in the Department of Magical Transportation."

From the rest of the schematic, Artemis was able to deduce that this was some sort of assassination mission, to be performed with the utmost stealth. Near the bottom of the page was a list of all those sent on the mission. Leading that charge was someone named Desra McCloggin.

"Who's Desra McCloggin?" Artemis asked Xavier.

"One of our assassins, not exactly right in the head though, bit on the crazy side. One of Voldemort's favorites though, likes to use her a lot.

"How old is she?"

"Bout twenty-five I think? Father's one of us too. Pretty big with Voldemort too, always tryin to live up to her old man I expect." As Xavier delved into who this McCloggin girl was, Artemis kept staring at the map, it was clearly an assassination, but whom? There was an address, in the top corner of the map. Artemis dug through his books as Xavier went on and on, and pulled out his wizard registry. It took quite a few minutes to sort through the massive records , but finally he looked up the correct address.

"3489 Cherry Crossing, that's...that's the house of the Minister of Magic."

"What?" Said Xavier in disbelief. "Volemorts gonna take out the Minister."

"It says here 3489 Cherry Crossing is the home of Millicent Bagnold. He's attempting to assassinate the Minster herself."

"What are you going to do?" Said Xavier.

"Stop him of course. The Minister is mine to finish, its all essential to my plan. She can't die, not yet."

"When is the attack happening?"

"According to this, tonight. I'll be able to head them off before they can kill her. Thank you Xavier, you may go now."

"Right then." Xavier headed out the door and Artemis called to him."

"Any word from Adora?"

"Sorry govenah, not yet."

"Alright thank you, on with you then." Xavier nodded and headed out the door, down the stairs, and into the snow covered alley. At the beginning of this week Artemis had sent Adora's necklace with Xavier to be delivered to her as a token of his love, and a sign that he was okay. According to Xavier he delivered it to her the night he gave it to him; she merely said thank you to him. Since then she hadn't given a message or token or anything to Xavier to give back to Artemis. It was worrying him; maybe something had happened to her. Maybe Xavier had betrayed him. These bad thoughts raced through Artemis' mind. He needed to clear his head, so he put on his coat, bundled himself up to fight the cold air, and put up his hood then set out for the Three Broomsticks.

Artemis had only gone to the Three Broomsticks two other times usually for the same reason, needing to clear his mind. His flat can sometimes seem like a prison, although he needed to exercise extreme caution as to not be discovered by anyone who may recognize him. Although for the most part he was safe. No normal citizen of Hogsmeade would know what he looked like, certainly they had heard of him, but that was twenty years ago, many had forgotten or just pass it off as a bad memory. Tom certainly wouldn't show up. Only thing he had o watch out for was the occasional death eater, and maybe an auror. Although he had made his return obvious to Tom and his followers he still was unaware whether the Ministry had knowledge of it, if so there would certainly be aurors after him. He had to assume they knew, better safe than sorry.

The Three Broomsticks is a charming little place, certainly not filthy like the Hogs Head Inn, but not elegant either. Although his hooded dress would be more suited at the Hogs Head, still he liked it here better. He ordered a Fireball, which is essentially a Butterbeer with a shot of Firewhisky. He found this was the perfect way to fight the cold air. When from behind him he could hear the merriment of a party of people. Artemis gazed over his shoulder to see a group of people gathered around someone clinging and laughing at his every word. All the women were gathered around his side, and the men all looked like they wanted very much to be like him. His chest was puffed out as far as it could, any more pride and his chest would certainly burst. His arms were very muscular, and had a very big and beefy figure. His chin looked so rigid and large; he could probably bludgeon a man to death with it. Artemis merely chuckled at this huge brute and turned back to his drink.

"...then the coward ran for it, but I got him, an impediment jinx brought him to his knees." The oversized man jumped onto the table, attempting to reenact his heroic capture. "The bloody chicken looked up from me and begged me, begged me! Can you believe it? Well I can, _please don't kill me, please! _Don't worry I said. I'll leave you for the dementors; they'll have fun with a wimp like you. Then would you believe it, he cried like a wee baby!" His posse erupted in laughter, clinking big mugs, pounding tables, and the ladies fawning at his feet. He leapt off the table, and began the next part of his story.

"Then suddenly, out of nowhere! Came this huge beastly werewolf!" At this all the women let out a horrid gasp and the men listened more intently then before. "Course it went right for me throat, but I wrestled the terrible monster for an hour." He thrashed about pantomiming the apparent werewolf. He threw himself about the pub and slammed into the bar right next to where Artemis was seated.

"Finally I wrestled the wretched creature off of me, grabbed it by the jaws, and broke the damn things jaw!" The men all let out hoots of approval, and the girls all applauded and giggled to one another. What had started as a humorous imbecile was now becoming a great annoyance to Artemis. The man propped himself up on the stool right next to him. Artemis rolled his eyes as the big buffoon started speaking to him.

"Never recall seeing you here stranger?" Artemis ignored him, but the oaf shot out his hand. "Nice to meet ya bloke, Gaston Mansfield, auror with the ministry." Artemis could hardly believe this moron was an auror, but he became wary of this man, he merely nodded his head. "What's the matter mate, never heard a story like that before. Not impressed eh? Well I'd like to see you take down a full grown werewolf all by your lonesome eh?" Once again Artemis just ignored him, really wishing he would go away. He gave Artemis a punch on the arm with a bellowing laugh. "Well maybe once you've grown some hair on your chest you can be my wand polisher eh? All the inhabitants of the bar roared with laughter, finally Artemis spoke.

"When did you capture this guy?"

"Last week, Tuesday night it was."

"Then you fought off a werewolf huh?" said Artemis, mocking sounding impressed."

"You got broom polish in your ears, yeah I fought him off. Why?"

"Well I just think it's interesting, how you fought off a werewolf when our last full moon was the previous Sunday, and were not due for another till next Monday." Gaston looked dumbfounded, like an idiot taking a test he didn't study for. Then he glanced back at his adoring fans, all of which had gone quiet, waiting for his explanation. Finally, realizing he had been outmatched, spoke.

"Well look who's all smart now, all high an mighty under your hood ain't ya?" He reached out his beefy hand and went to pull off Artemis hood, and like a coiled python, Artemis struck. He grabbed his hand with his left hand and twisted it and with a crack of bone the man keeled over and Artemis grabbed his massive head and slammed it into the bar. He quickly got himself up, but still dazed, swung his sausage arm which Artemis easily dodged and came back up with his empty Butterbeer bottle, and swung it and came crashing on the top of his head. He thrust his foot into the side of his knee and once again bone could be heard cracking and Gaston collapsed. Artemis pulled out his wand which transfigured into a dagger, he stabbed the back of his collar, nailing him to the bar, and pulling on his shirt, and with his damaged leg couldn't prop himself up to stop himself from choking. The barman had taken a step back fear on his face. Artemis turned and saw the once enthusiastic group of admirers now staring silently back at him, mouths agape. Artemis grinned, threw a galleon to the bartender, took his knife out of the bar sending Gaston Mansfield collapsing to the floor coughing for air, and left as his dagger turned back into his wand.

Artemis thought better of his reaction, but he couldn't be sure whether the Ministry knew what he looked like, and Gaston being an auror, he had to. Still he felt he hadn't sent the last of Gaston Mansfield. Artemis went back to his flat, and gathered all he would need, and shrunk down the plan of attack and sent off Amicus. He was finally going to make himself known since he had killed Abraxas. He was going to make trouble for Tom, ruin his plans. Be a real thorn in his side. Smiling with satisfaction, Artemis gathered his things and set off to the house of the Minister of Magic.

Night had fallen on 3489 Cherry Crossing, and the last light in the last room had gone. With a burst of emerald green flames, three dark figures emerged from the fireplace in the mansion of the Minister of Magic, Millicent Bagnold. Leading the charge was none other than Desra McCloggin, the feared Death Eater, responsible for the death of two aurors, and three members of the Order of the Phoenix. Behind her, Evan Kempley, and Jericho Bulstrode two more infamous Death Eaters here on a mission of the utmost importance to their master, the Dark Lord. No words are spoken in the dead silence and darkness. They descend the stairs wands out and smiling menacingly, like panthers on the prowl. The third door on the left, that's what they were told by Lord Voldemort, she'll be asleep, just take her out.

The room is approached. Desra points her wand at the lock "Alohamora", and with a click the door opens and they step into the dark void that is the chamber of the Minister of Magic. The bed is at the other end of the room, they approach stealthily smiling with glee, and this will please the Dark Lord. They get to her bedside and throw the covers off, and to their shock she is gone! The lights in the room all turn on and they all whip around to find themselves facing a man in a black and purple cloak. They pointed their wands but it was too late. As they turned Evan was struck by a bolt of purple lightning which sent him crashing into the wall, then Jericho threw a stunning charm which Artemis deflected back at him spinning him and sending his head crashing on the bedpost. Desra stood stunned; she threw a charm and another, and another. He deflected them all and made a "b" line toward her as he ricocheted them all. He backed her into the bed frame and pointed his wand straight for her throat. "Avada..."

Out of her robe she pulled a necklace and yelled "YOU'L ALWAYS HAVE MY HEART CLOSE TO YOURS!" Artemis' face changed, from ecstatic killer to shocked and confused. The necklace she was holding was none other than Adora's emerald heart necklace. He remembered that Adora had said what he just heard the night before he was betrayed by Tom. Artemis reached out his hand and took the necklace from her. He had so many questions.

"How did you get this?" Artemis demanded.

"Adora gave it to me." Before she could even explain Artemis demanded another answer.

"WHY?"

"She said it would stop you from killing me, and she told me if I said that, you'd know I hadn't stolen it."

"Why does she want me to keep from killing you?"

"She knew you'd soon come after me, so she gave me a message for you."

"What is it?"

"She said", she paused. "Not to come for her." Artemis took this in. Why didn't she want him to come for her? She couldn't be happy being under Tom's thumb. Artemis took in a minute to take in the appearance of Desra McCloggin. She was shorter, with long curly dirty blonde hair. The only bit of color from her were her bright green eyes, otherwise she was covered in black. She sported a lady's long black coat, and knee high heeled leather boots. Her arms were covered in long black gloves and the only part of her visible was her fingers, painted of course with black nail polish. Just as Xavier had said, she did look half crazed.

"I've been asking Xavier to deliver her messages to me..."

"She didn't trust him, thought if he was ever caught he would crack if interrogated." Artemis took a step back, and turned around holding the necklace to his chest. Behind him he heard a stir and he whipped around and casted.

"Expeliarmus!" Desra's wand flew from her hand.

"Bit paranoid aren't you."

"Yeah, comes with experience. Why doesn't she want me to come after her?"

"Because the Dark Lord is waiting for you to come for her, and when you do..."

"I can't let her sit there like a prisoner, again. What would the Dark Lord think of you delivering messages behind his back?"

"Adora and I have become friends over the year; she made me promise to tell you."

"Well since you've delivered your message I can now dispose of you." She shot her hands forward in protest.

"Wait I can help you!" Artemis smiled.

"I've already got a rat."

"Xavier is an errand-boy; I'm deep within the Dark Lord's operation I'm his favorite, I can tell you things about him he wouldn't even tell his barber." Artemis stared oddly at her. He took a minute.

"Fine, but I'll give you the same warning I gave Xavier. Should you betray me..."

"Yeah yeah, long and painful death I know."

"Alright then", Artemis whistled and Amicus flew in through the window. "When you see the raven with the purple eyes, you'll know it's me that's near. Be ready when I call." Desra gave an assuring nod. "Unfortunately, you can't go back to Voldemort looking like this. Inflixi!" A white charm flew from Artemis' wand and struck Desra in the face. She now had a black eye and was bleeding from the nose; her teeth were also red with blood.

"Nice to meet you too", she said. Artemis turned to leave. "Where is the Minsiter?" Artemis flicked his wand and an invisibility cloak was pulled off the bed revealing the Minister herself, safely asleep. Stunned of course but none the wiser as to what just happened in her very own bedroom. Artemis waved his wand again and the room returned to normal the shattered frame of the picture that Evan had smashed with his body returned to its original state, and the broken bedpost that was now currently lodged in Jericho's head fastened itself into position blood free. The two men had disappeared and the room was as it was before Artemis had arrived and stunned the Minister as she slept. Desra smiled with comprehension and shook her head, obviously humorously disappointed with herself. Artemis returned the smile, then pointed his wand at Desra, who unwillingly disapparated.

Artemis returned to his flat with satisfaction in a successful operation, although he meant to simply kill them all, he now had a new ally. Although he was more suspicious of Desra than he had been of Xavier, but he had pitied Xavier, but then how else could Desra had known what Adora had told him all those years ago, and came to have the necklace. He couldn't rule out the possibility that tonight was part of Tom's plan, and he would be more wary in the future. One thing was certain; he could not simply take Adora's advice ad stay away. She was partly the reason why this was all happening, so they could be together, he couldn't just leave her in whatever awful place Tom's home is. The thought of her being a slave to her, just as she had been with Abraxas for so long was unbearable. He wouldn't stand aside and let her rot, he would get her back, and he would be with her again. The obvious problem arose as to how this all would happen.


	16. The Quick And The Dead

Ch. 16-The Quick And The Dead

Artemis had returned home to find Xavier barricaded in his room, fearful they would be coming for him. It took Artemis awhile to calm him down and assure him he was safe. Finally he came to, and they both sat together into the early hours of the morning faced with a barrage of questions and no answers.

"Think", Artemis said. "Why does he need hundreds of barrels filled with blood?"

"I don't know." said Xavier.

"He's never mentioned a ritual of some sort requiring blood?"

"No."

"Any sort of potion needing blood?"

"No."

"Think dammit! You've been living in his house spying on his meetings for months."

"I don't know! He doesn't tell me everything! You saw what I am to them; I don't overhear everything!"

"Damn!" Artemis got up and started pacing around the room sucking on his pipe. Both Artemis and Xavier had been at this for hours; their clothes were dirty and untidy. Artemis loosened his tie even further and walked about with his jacket strewn over the chair; Xavier too had bloodshot eyes and was struggling to stay awake. "Think Xavier."

"We've been at this all night, if I could just rest!"

"No! We have no time, Tom is up to something and we need to find out what so we can stop him. We can't afford..." Artemis stopped and tossed down his pipe onto his desk. "You're right, there's a bunk in the room across the hall, get some sleep."

"Ok, yeah." Xavier got up with a sort of stumbling stupor. Artemis saw that his skin was pale from the lack of sleep; for the first time he really thought about how much he was asking out of him. He after all is just a boy, and all Artemis had asked of him must take a toll.

"You look awful kid; get to bed before you turn into..." Artemis' eyes grew large and his mouth fell agape. He had had a revelation, and Xavier had noticed his new exclaimed epiphany face.

"What is it?"

"I just figured it out, it makes sense now...vampires." Xavier looked at him with fascination and confusion. Apparently the prospect was just as surprising to him.

"Vampires? What would Voldemort want with vampires?" The prospect seemed to be loosing validity. What would he want with them? Tom believes in all the pure-blood magic is might crap. Why would he seek help from another magical creature? "He's been recruiting other magical creatures." Artemis glared at him with an almost betrayed look.

"Why wasn't I told?" Artemis inquired furiously.

"I didn't know. I just figured it out." Xavier stared down at the floor wide eyed. "I thought he was just rallying other wizards to his cause. He used these codenames you see. He always talked about these people; Goliath was one, another was Frosty. Then there was Triton, and Vlad. I think there was one more." Artemis and Xavier were putting the pieces of the puzzle together; both were having epiphanies left and right.

"Goliath must be the giants, he's recruiting giants", said Artemis with a snap of his finger.

"And Triton's gotta be the merpeople", said Xavier excitedly. "Vlad is the vampires."

"Yes, yes, yes but who's frosty?"

"Oh there was also Howler that must be werewolves." Said Xavier with impeding excitement.

"Dementors, Frosty is the dementors. They turn the air cold; freeze anything when they go by, it all makes sense; so Tom's recruiting giants, merpeople, dementors, werewolves, and vampires."

"Not exactly; see that's the part that makes no sense. Whenever he talked about the other four, he always talked about rallying them to his cause. But whenever he talked about Vlad, he always talked about how he wanted to keep him away and he wanted him to stay out of the war."

"That's it."

"What's it?"

"He's afraid of them. The great and powerful Lord Voldemort is afraid of vampires." Artemis laughed. He got an image of Tom, the dark evil wizard, to whom millions feared, cowering under his bed sheets at the thought of vampires under his bed. "Well then Xavier I guess we're off!"

"Where?" Said Xavier inquiringly.

"Transylvania, to the last remaining clan of vampires." Artemis remembered reading about vampires during his twenty years of exile. How the vampires were in a great struggle of survival and now only one large clan remained. Vampires appear scarcely around the world, but there's only one collective group of them left, in the mountains of Transylvania somewhere. No one had ever successfully located it, but Artemis felt confident he could find it. The clan is rumored to be in the hundreds of thousands maybe even close to a million. After explaining all this Xavier gawked at Artemis amazed.

"How do you know all this?"

"Twenty years with nothing to do but read. Now cmon get your things."

"I get to go!" He said with a childlike expression.

"Of course, you can't stay here; if Tom finds out where I live then your dead. Plus who would bring me coffee and pick up my dry-cleaning." Artemis and Xavier exchanged chuckling smiles. "Amicus, come" The bird flew off his perch and onto Artemis' arm. Artemis asked Xavier. "You ever disapparated before?"

"No, what does it feel like?"

"You eat yet?"

"No"

"Well that's good." Xavier's excited smile faded and he swallowed nervousness. With a crack they were gone and soon they were on a snowy hillside overlooking a small village with the tallest building being the church, and its bell tower climbed over the snow covered town. The landscape was quite breathtaking.

The beauty of the scenery was tainted by the sound of Xavier vomiting into the snow. Artemis couldn't help but think of when he first disapparated on the arm of Tom; he vomited too.

"You'll get used to that; once you start doing it on your own."

"I suppose; if I knew how. Could you teach me Artemis?" He said happily. Artemis was taken aback and he remembered the promise he made to himself not to get too attached to Xavier. He stared for a moment while Xavier's smile disappeared and finally said.

"We'll see. Come one we've got to find a place to get out of the cold until we know where the clan is."

"How exactly are we supposed to find it?" Artemis smiled and turned to his faithful bird still perched on his arm. "Alright Amicus remember what we talked about. Look for dark places, caves and castle dungeons. You should be able to sense magical creatures, search high and low alright?" The bird fluttered its wings in approval. "We'll be in the local pub, come find us straight away." Artemis extended his arm and Amicus was off into the air; a black flying speck amongst a sky of endless winter clouds. Xavier and Artemis dredged down the snowy hill toward the village and Artemis caught Xavier giving him a smile.

"What?" Artemis said with a near frustration.

"You and that bird; you really care about him huh?" With a smile on his face Artemis said back.

"He is my closest companion. He was with me through most of my years of exile; a most loyal bird." They made their way to the local pub, and entered in. The barman stared at both Artemis and Xavier. Their long black cloaks and dark colored coats didn't match the European farm village look. They sat down at a table in the corner and ordered some drinks; it wasn't long before Xavier asked.

"So what do we do now?"

"We wait for Amicus to return, we cannot hope to find the clan by ourselves. Amicus will find it I have no doubts; only a matter of time now." The two sat in silence sipping their warm coffee. Xavier would look up at Artemis, and then back down; up and then down again. Artemis caught him doing this several times so finally he harshly said.

"What?"

"It's nothing." Xavier stared back down at his coffee and his eyes shifted up to Artemis, there eyes locked and he shot straight back down. Artemis, now rather annoyed, demanded.

"Alright then, spit it out. What's on your mind?"

"I was just wondering...ya know...about what happened...to you." Artemis glared simply back at Xavier. Now fearing he hadn't made his point he rambled even more. "It's just I never heard your side of the story about what happened...when you were...well uh...exiled."

"Look Xavier, I've told you before about asking too many questions."

"I know but I only heard what Voldemort said about it. And I gotta figure he's a lying git." Artemis simply smiled than reveled.

"I was betrayed, pure and simple." There was a pause as Artemis' mind flashed all the events of that fateful day so many years ago. Xavier pressed him further so Artemis told his tale, the tale of his betrayal of his teacher, friend, and father-figure.

"Wait a minute! You can do musica?"

"Course I can, didn't Tom tell you all that?"

"No, he just said you destroyed those cities because you were really powerful." Artemis queried in his mind about why Tom would hold back what seemed like such a meaningless fact. "I think that poor kid in the basement can do it too. We always hear him playing away on that thing, his piano I mean. But please go on." Artemis finished his story ending with the conclusion of the twenty years.

"Wow, I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry, I made it out alright? I'm here now aren't I?"

"I know, it just seems so sad: you and Adora bein split up, Lucius growing up to be a bastard, and your kid locked away in a basement." The two sat in silence for a moment, until Xavier piped up rather ashamedly. "My own father stood back and watched me walk out the door, knowing I was gonna die. Didn't do a damn thing about it did he now?" More silence as the clinking of glasses being arranged was heard from behind the bar.

"I suppose we've both been betrayed. You'll soon realize that you're better without those traitors in your life and one day they'll pay for what they've done. Me, I'm just not patient enough to wait for that day." Xavier forced a smile back up at Artemis. His smile faded as his head bobbed with anxiety.

"Do you think you could...help me get...my revenge?" Artemis was sort of taken aback. Although he knew all about Xavier's betrayal it never occurred to him that he would extract revenge from his own father.

"Alright then, when I burn down the Riddle house I'll be sure to pay extra attention to your Dad." Artemis chuckled, but it was not returned. Instead Xavier said with assurance.

"I want to do it." Artemis widened his eyes for a moment then simply nodded saying.

"I see." Artemis leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. "I'll see what I can do." Xavier shook his head with a sullen face then looked back down at the table fiddling with a sugar packet. "Hey", Xavier looked up. "We'll get the son of a bitch eh?" Xavier smiled and laughed with Artemis.

"Yeah alright." And just as though Artemis never promised himself not to get too close to Xavier, they sat there at that table for what appeared to be hours. Retelling funny stories and laughing together, Artemis passing wise words to Xavier, even doing impressions of Tom cowering from vampires. Occasionally Artemis would realize that he was getting too close and would try to back off, but he couldn't help himself. He hadn't had a human friend in a while. Then he thought of Arthur, and felt a pang of sadness. Perhaps this boy was a way to make up for Arthur; after all, this boy had no more friends than he or Arthur did back at Hogwarts. He had gone through similar hurt as Artemis had; he couldn't help but see himself in him, and wonder how he would end up now; now that he was with him, and now that he was leading him on a similar path to revenge. Artemis simply threw these thoughts out of his mind, and for once in a very long while, just had a good time.

The fun was interrupted while in the middle of a story Xavier stopped dead and his face turned to shock. Artemis' smile faded away when as he saw him and turned around to see two men in black cloaks approaching the bar. Xavier clearly recognized them

"Those two are Death Eaters." Artemis panicked for a moment. "Barnabus and Nigel Procter, brothers. They're bad news Artemis; what should we do?" Artemis thought carefully. The last thing they needed was a duel in this muggle pub, if any of them had time to warn Tom they would be outnumbered in a matter of minutes. It was Artemis' understanding that, from what Xavier told him, Death Eaters could summon each other with a touch to the dark mark on their arm.

"Make sure they see you, and lead them to the bathroom." Xavier shook his head as Artemis nonchalantly got up from the table and left around the corner. Xavier nervously got up and walked toward the bar, as he walked by he purposely tripped over the adjacent barstool making a loud clatter. The two Death Eaters sprang up and as they saw Xavier one of them exclaimed.

"Hey, get back here!" Xavier's scrawny form sprinted around the back corner and burst through the bathroom door where he was met by Artemis pointing his wand straight for him.

"GET DOWN!" Artemis yelled as the Procter brothers rounded the corner and appeared in the doorway. Xavier jumped to the side and Artemis hit the first brother with a stunning spell. His brother then dodged his flying body and threw a charm back at Artemis which he quickly blocked. Xavier stepped in between the two and attempted to disarm the remaining Death Eater; the Procter brother then blocked it and struck Xavier with a spell sending him flying past Artemis and slamming into the sink behind him. The sink smashed and began spraying water on the floor. In a panic Artemis turned round to see if Xavier was alive, when he had turned round it was too late. The Procter brother had thrown a charm at Artemis wrapping a black chord round his neck. He dropped his wand in an attempt to try to breath, but the grip was far too strong. Artemis gasped for air and desperately reached for his wand. He looked up and saw the Procter brother sneering at him with his wand pointed harshly at him, struggling to tighten the grasp the curse had on him. Artemis could see the sides of his vision turning to black when a red ball of light flew to his attacker's hand sending his wand out of his grip. Artemis felt the charm fade away and he gasped sweet oxygen as he saw another flash of light and the Death Eater was thrown into a mirror on the wall hitting it with his head leaving a blood splatter on the spider-web crack now in the shattered mirror. Artemis turned around to see Xavier; his hair and clothes wet from the spraying, destroyed sink, he was panting and weak. His arm that had been pointing his wand at their enemy dropped in exhaustion and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Artemis was taken aback at how Xavier had saved his life. He had suffered a head injury which Artemis healed up but left him with a dizzy feeling. His drying charm dried off Xavier and himself and with a wave of his wand the bathroom returned to its original state. When all was as it was Artemis simply looked at Xavier, and even without saying it he was able to convey, "_Thank you". _

One of the brothers was still alive so Artemis scooped him up and took him outside with them. The two stepped back outside to face the cold winter air when a black swooping bird came and landed upon Artemis' shoulder. The bird began fluttering its wings wildly and Artemis knew that Amicus had found the entrance to the vampire clan. Artemis grabbed hold of Xavier and the Death Eater and disapparated.

When they came around and Xavier stopped walking about like a newborn horse they were standing in front a large opening in the mountainside. Artemis dropped the weak Death Eater and slowly approached; staring into the abyss of the cave. Artemis stepped into the gaping black hole but was blocked by some invisible force. Just then a searing sound could be heard as the round entrance to the cave suddenly burned in red these words round the border.

_"Invado damnatos illis creaturis noctium Videte quae sit in anima in sanguine tuo pretium immortalium in subiungo." _Artemis read them out loud translating them from Latin.

"Enter those damned creatures of the night. Beware those whom within a soul resides for your blood is the price to join the immortals. Good thing I brought him." Artemis picked up the now conscious Death Eater and pulled him over to the entrance of the cave and dropped him to his knees. Artemis held his black wand in hand and said, "Gladius", to which his wand turned into a shining sword. He grabbed the Death Eater by the hair pulled back his head and slit his throat with the blade. Blood poured from his neck and Artemis kicked him in the back sending his bleeding body tumbling down the stone incline and plummeting into eternal darkness. The words round the cave sizzled and disappeared from the rock's surface, and Artemis put his hand into the cave and was not blocked as he was before.

"Alright Xavier listen very carefully, open your shirt." Xavier looked quizzically at Artemis for a moment but yielded to his request. The bitter cold stung his bare chest as Artemis pointed his wand at it. "Duco Crucifixus" Xavier felt a strange tingling affect on his chest, almost like a prickly feeling. Artemis instructed him to close his shirt.

"What was that?"

"Protective enchantment, now listen; vampires although they look like humans are not by any means humane. They will kill without provocation or remorse so give them no reason to harm you. They are creatures as passion and desire nothing more. Inside this cave you will likely see things that will haunt you forever, you must stay focused; just let me do the talking and try not to make eye contact. Understand?" Xavier nervously nodded and they began their journey into hell itself.

Wands lit, both men walked slowly down the steep path. The air was getting colder and colder as they progressed further and further down into the cave. Finally they heard a noise, something like a crunching noise but a wet crunching as if someone was stepping upon ice. Their wands light finally came upon two figures hunched over something. They quickly realized it was their "offering" and two female vampires were biting and feasting upon the dead man's body. Upon seeing the light they looked up at the two, blood staining their teeth and dripping from their mouths. Xavier gasped in shock when he first saw the gruesome sight and the two creatures bared their teeth and were breathing heavily in an almost growling sound.

"Tell your master we wish to speak to him." The two vampires stood and dragged the body into the darkness. A sudden flame erupted down the tunnel, the orange glow of a torch. Artemis and Xavier walked along the tunnel and came upon the two vampire ladies again standing on both sides of a wooden door; the torches burning brightly on either side. They were leaning against the wall dressed in robes and drapes exposing their navels and their thighs. They stared seductively at both of the men, especially Xavier. Artemis gazed over at him to see fear in his eyes slipping away and turning slowly to bliss. Artemis nudged him and he seemed to slip from his trance.

"Avoid eye contact." Artemis said sternly and Xavier nodded and stared at the ground. The vampire mistress spoke in an alluring tone.

"He will see you know Artemis." Artemis stared back saying nothing as the two opened the door and led them in. They were immediately showered with colors of red, and all at once it seemed they were in a beautiful palace. From the ceilings of the new corridor hung chandeliers burning with fire and all along the walls were torches flickering and hot. The walls were covered with blood red drapes; the wide hallway held many more creatures in it. All along the sides of the corridor were what looked like long continuous daybeds that stretched down the length of the hallway. Laying upon them were numerous vampires, all female. They all wore dark dresses and wispy clothes exposing their bodies; their revealing attire was that of concubines or harletts in that they were especially made to prey upon men. They all looked up from their lounges and stared with hungry eyes at the two men now making their way down in front of them. They all hissed and breathed heavily with desire and longing reaching out their hands if only for a touch as they rubbed each other in an endless sexual trap for weak men. Artemis looked over at Xavier and saw he was peeking up at the objects so longing for his attention.

"Look down!" Artemis said with hushed anger. Xavier put his head down still speaking to Artemis.

"Why don't you have to keep you head down?"

"I've learned how to block them."

"Block what?"

"Vampires are very skilled at hypnosis. If you connect with their eyes you're doomed to be their slave."

"But how did they know your name?"

"They're also very skilled with telepathy, or what we might call Legillimency; vampires of the same clan can communicate telepathically with one another."

"So they can read minds?"

"More or less; they're probably doing it to you right now." Xavier panicked with silent fear.

"How do I stop them, how do you do it?"

"Takes years to master, you've nothing to worry about, not while I'm hear." Xavier nodded his head staring at nothing but his feet walking upon the deep red carpet that lined the corridor. Finally they came to another door, much larger than the one before; a double door. Their two guides each hoisted a handle and pushed opening into a vast grand room which was dimly lit by burning fires, it looked like a very expensive dungeon. All around them were the same red draped walls and burning torches and encircling the room was what seemed to be a long enormous bed upon which many vampires, male and female were lying upon. It was a horrible sight, vampires feasting off one another; biting and scratching and rubbing each other all the while, rubbing their blood all over themselves. Some were feeding off of humans who laid upon the beds too weak to move, who could only lay there and pray for death. On some of the beds were naked human prisoners, chained to the walls some sprawled out, others forced to their knees by the chains. One female vampire was taking a knife to her human "toy" cutting off parts of him as he wailed in pain. Another group were poking and prodding with red hot iron pokers at a woman chained to the wall spread like the Vitruvian man. She screamed through her gags and shook wildly in her bonds. One woman on her knees clasped in irons saw Artemis and Xavier enter and lifted her defeated head holding up her arms and begging.

"Please...please help me." One of her captors, a woman pulled on the chain round her neck pulling her back into her lap.

"Bad girl, we have to punish bad girls don't we. The prisoners eyes dripped with tears as the vampire whispered this into her air and took to her cheek her fingernail; scratching her face as blood dripped from the cut. She looked up to see Xavier watching and she smiled bearing her fangs then proceeded to lick the blood off her face as she wept. Xavier quickly looked down away from the horrible things in this room; hearing only the hisses of the vampires and the muffled screams and groans of their prisoners. At the far end of this room sat a kind of throne which sat in the middle of a large circular bed with a break in the circle and a path of stairs leading to the grand chair. Sitting upon the chair was a man, or rather a vampire.

His hair was long and black; it sat upon his shoulders and draped down to his chest in an almost airy way. His eyes were blood red and his pale face bore a sinister smile in response to his new visitors. The long chocolate brown coat which he wore covered nearly all of him, its numerous buckles fastened to him as if he were a prisoner in his own clothing. Its long tails draped gracefully over his legs, crossed and the tips of his fingers touching and his elbows resting on his legs. The brooch that appeared at his collar was that of a black sun and his coat was inscribed with many deigns and swirling metal fasteners. He was the epitome of sinister, and he was staring straight at them.

The two vampires who led them into the room approached the sides of him and whispered into his ear and his smile widened with pleasure. Then the two sat on the bed in both sides of his throne and he petted one on the head, running his fingers through her hair as if a loyal dog. Finally with a coolness that reeked of evil he spoke.

"Greetings gentlemen, welcome. My name is Dolosus, Lord Dolosus Vladimir." The name stung the air like a cold blade forged in hells fires. "To what do I owe this pleasure Mr. Gridlock?" Artemis glanced over at Xavier; he was now more than ever keeping his eyes glued to the floor. Artemis bowed his head to the vampire lord.

"Hello Lord Dolosus, we've come here before you to ask you something." Dolosus leaned back in his chair slouching down in comfort while all around him on the bed was what seemed to be a moving mass of flesh and teeth, engaging in their pleasurable whims. Lord Dolosus chuckled.

"Ask away my fine fellow", he said with a sly buddy-buddy tone.

"We understand that Lord Voldemort has in his possession thousands of barrels filled with blood..." Dolosus smirked then interrupted.

"Do these look familiar?" He waved his bony hand and a large curtain was drawn back, revealing a large cubby in the wall filled with many of the same barrels Artemis had seen at Riddle Manor. Artemis didn't know what to think, he hadn't really thought of this or anything else concerning the barrels for that matter. Yet here they were confirming their purpose.

"Lord Voldemort foresees an upcoming war which he has kindly asked us to stay out of. We remain neutral and we are given fresh supplies of blood every week. In fact our newest supply arrived today." This now dawned on Artemis as to why the two Death Eaters were in the local pub. Dolosus snapped his finger. "Feed my children." Several of the vampires began ripping off the tops of the barrels, dipping their hands, smearing it over one another, licking it off each others bodies. One of the females next to Dolosus filled a goblet and handed it to her master. He drank from it raising his glass as both Artemis and Xavier watched in horror as the clan fed with their demonic delight. Xavier was trembling as he peeked occasionally at the barbarity taking place. He glanced over at a couple of vampires covered in blood pouring blood on one of their prisoners, forcing down her throat as she gagged and cried as her face was licked by monstrous creatures. As he saw one of them bite into her throat Xavier winced and Dolosus took a deep breath through his nose as if smelling something delightful.

"I do love the smell of fear. What do you say Xavier, care to join us?" Artemis cut in quietly.

"Don't answer, look down." Still trembling, Xavier looked down nodding anxiously.

"You know it's rude not to talk to someone when they're talking to you."

"Do not look." Xavier nodded quickly again, but he seemed to be straining to keep his gaze down. Lord Dolosus spoke in a breathy hypnotic tone.

"Look into my eyes Xavier."

"Don't."

"Look upon me." Dolosus leaned forward in his chair, focusing intently upon Xavier.

"Don't move."

"Look." His words were harsher and demanding while still wreaking of seduction.

"Don't do it."

"Look!"

"Do _not _look at him!"

"LOOK!" Xavier's head shot up as if someone had been holding him back with all his might and finally relinquished their grasp. As soon as his eyes met Lord Dolosus' his mouth feel agape and he trembled still and his eyes were growing blank. Xavier's foot moved and took a single step forward, but Artemis acted to stop him. With his left hand he reached across and punched Xavier in his face. His eye contact was broken and his state returned to normal and was replaced by one of pain. He grabbed his face and resumed looking down. The vampires gave a sinister laugh and Dolosus resumed his taunting.

"You on the other hand Artemis, you are quite difficult to read. I see pain, much pain; oh and something else more potent, do you smell it my love?" He asked of the vampire to his right.

"Love", she said with a playful disgust in her voice.

"Yes, yes indeed; love smells far more repulsive than even garlic." They all gave a sly laugh. "One thing I cannot understand Mr. Gridlock. Surely you are a smart enough man to master Occlumency, and therefore repel our telepathy. Therefore you must be wise enough to discern for yourself the purpose of Lord Voldemort's blood barrels. So there must be another reason for your presence here. So why else have you come? Artemis felt a crooked smile smear across his face out of mutual respect. Artemis had always sort of admired vampires in a way: they never deny themselves what they want, will seek justice for their own kind, and are very wise. Three very things that Artemis himself strives for.

"You bask here in your magnificent gifts from the Dark Lord, but I ask of you Lord Dolosus. Where is the honor? Where is the pride? Where is the pleasure in this? You sit around in your underground dungeon while Lord Voldemort praises himself as the master of evil. Not to flatter you my good sir, but I think you could run circles around him." Dolosus simply smiled, while he and his _children _continued to listen intently.

"Don't you see? He's afraid of you; he showers you with gifts to keep you blind from the truth."

"And what truth would that be Mr. Gridlock?"

"That he keeps you away from this battle, because he knows you...could win it." Dolosus sat up straight in his chair and smiled with admiration as did the rest of the vampires; all looking around at one another, apparently very proud that they were being hailed as so powerful.

"He declares himself the master of death? He knows nothing of death, but you all do. Prove to him that he is no match for you all when it comes to being the true evil one. Show him who the true dark Lord is."

"Continue Mr. Gridlock, just how do we proclaim ourselves masters of the world as you say?"

"Rise up, to hell with his bribes. Take your rightful place in this war; as the victors!" Chatter had grown louder among the vampires, and now they were quite rowdy as Dolosus pondered these queries. He waved his hand and silence swept through the chamber.

"I wonder my friend, why a mortal proclaims the victory of the undead so vigorously. You are not one of us, therefore an eventual enemy." The hush continued as all eyes stared intently at Artemis.

"We share a common annoyance. Lord Voldemort owns something of mine and I want it."

"And what is this which you must have of his."

"Revenge." said Artemis coldly. Dolosus smiled.

"If there is one human emotion I can connect with in my afterlife, it is revenge. But Lord Voldemort is no enemy to me; I see no reason to risk the lives of my children for the sake of procuring your revenge."

"He may not be enemy to you now, but he is painting a new picture of the future, and I seriously doubt that you are in it. He will deceive you just as he has so many others, and when the time comes that you decide to face him, it will be too late." Dolosus pondered these thoughts with far more seriousness than before.

"I ask of you only this; help me procure my revenge and I will assure that the Dark Lord is no more. And the Ministry will crumble, paving a clear path for you and your people to claim victory."

"You betray your own government? Your own people?"

"My government is part of my revenge. I have no use for them and soon it will be destroyed." There was a long pause and Artemis felt a great deal of excitement well up inside him, he was certain he had them now.

"I am a leader first, and a conqueror second. I must think of what is best for my children. I will consider you proposal Mr. Gridlock, but now onto the more pressing matter."

"Which is?"

"This blood here is not as fresh as we'd like it. Therefore I cannot simply deny my children fresh blood when it is so willingly available to them." Dolosus snapped his finger and four female vampires climbed off the bed and moved toward the two men. Artemis interjected.

"Wait." The four vampires stopped in their tracks. "By the time you have taken both of us down I will have killed seventy percent of the vampires in this room, including you." Hissing and heavy growling was heard from the surrounding vampires. "Take the boy and let me go free without a fight." Xavier looked up now shocked and confused.

"What?" He said fearfully.

"He is defenseless, he cannot fight." Xavier immediately reached for his wand and feeling it was not there turned to see Artemis twirling it in his fingers.

"Very well", said Dolosus. "Take the boy." The four vampires now went for Artemis and grabbed him pulling toward the large bed. He yelled in protest as he was being led away. Artemis turned to leave hearing Xavier shout the whole time.

"NO! Please don't! Artemis! Artemis come back! NOOOO!" Artemis looked over his shoulder to see Xavier spread apart on the bed and they were looking upon him with hungry eyes like a child being given a new toy. Hands were rubbing all up and down his body. Just as Artemis neared the door, a vampire climbed over Xavier and tore open his shirt with one fast tear.

Suddenly there were screams and hisses as the vampires retreated away from Xavier and Dolosus shielded his face. Artemis drew his wand.

"Xavier, come with me." Xavier got up from the bed and hurried to Artemis side who gave him back his wand and said. "Back to back, anyone gets close to you cast _Lumos Horam, _it's a sun beam. Now open the door. Xavier opened the two double doors to see the female vampires on both sides of the corridor leap away from Xavier who looked down to now realize he had a large crucifix tattooed on his chest, it was glowing brightly and kept the vampires away from him; hissing in hatred as he passed by them. Artemis kept his wand pointed at Dolosus and just before they left the chamber. Artemis spoke one last time to him.

"Consider what I have said Dolosus. Who is the real Dark Lord?"

"Artemis walked backwards with Xavier at his back leading the way out repelling vampires as they passed by. Not one dared to come near Xavier, and as they made their way out of the crimson corridor they were once again the in the dark cave entrance; their wands lighting the way. When they reached daylight they ran for the entrance and were in the safety of sunlight. Artemis and Xavier panted from their final dash to sanctuary and Artemis breathed a sigh of relief. Xavier however was not interested in relief; instead he began to furiously hit Artemis, swinging his arms at him in anger shouting.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU SON OF A BITCH! I TRUSTED YOU!" Artemis was able to keep him at bay until he had a grip on him.

"Let's make something quite clear! There is nothing I wouldn't do to procure my revenge, which includes sacrifice. I had no intention of handing you over. I gave you that marking on your chest as an ace on the hole should we come across that very same situation." Xavier stopped his attempt to hurt Artemis. The two stood there in a somewhat foggy sense of understanding. Xavier noticed now the cold air on his bare chest. So Artemis conjured him a coat and covered him in it. Amicus was perched on the entrance of the cave.

"Well where were _you_?" Artemis shouted at the bird that squawked and fluttered its wings. Artemis breathed a sigh of anxiety. "Ah you big sissy!" The bird then flew to Artemis arm. He then reached out his other arm and Xavier looked at it for a moment, almost as if trying to determine if this was yet another trick. He finally conceded and took his arm and they disapparated back to London arriving inside the flat of Artemis Gridlock. But who should be sitting on the edge of his bed, but Desra McCloggin herself.


	17. Flight Of The Celebrity

Ch. 17-

"Well it's about time you boys got back", said Desra keeping herself busy by filing her black nails very posh-like in expectation of their arrival. Artemis and Xavier both drew their wands only to be met with her snide laugh. "Is this the thanks I get for helping you out back in Transylvania?" Both Artemis and Xavier looked at one another in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Inquired Artemis.

"Oh please, did you think Barnabus and Nigel just happened to walk into the very village you were staying at. Come now Artemis you're supposed to be wicked smart." Xavier chimed in.

"They were there delivering blood to the vampires." They've never actually been to the vampire cave. The normal procedure is to leave the barrels at the base of the mountain and in the morning they're gone. No, I knew you had headed off to see the vampires after Snape caught you snooping around the blood barrels."

"You knew that was me?"

"Of course, I knew Tiberius had been done for days, I bloody saw you do it", she said with a smirk.

"Then why did you mention right in front of me that you had been manipulating my feelings for Adora, and were going to lead me into a trap!"

"Oh use your brain Artemis. I lied to him; I've been lying to him ever since you've been back. I sent the Procters to you so you could kill them off." Artemis cut her off with anger.

"YOU NEARLY GOT US KILLED!" Desra was taken aback for a moment but then gave a snide snicker and stood and approached Artemis, getting close to him.

"I knew you could do it Artemis, you're a big boy aren't ya. I figured you could handle yourself, and here you are; sound as a pound. Besides they were both under my imperious curse, they wouldn't have killed you. Now maybe we can get down to real business." Artemis and Xavier looked at each other; both apparently having the same conflict; whether or not we can trust her. She paced round the room touching random objects as she spoke.

"The Dark Lord is getting desperate, he's looking for something; something that if he finds even you won't be a match for him." Artemis wondered inquiringly about this object Tom had been searching for.

"What is he looking for?" Xavier piped up, breaking Artemis' stupor. Desra simply smiled then said.

"What do you know about the four founders of Hogwarts?" Artemis had read all about them in his twenty years. There was a lot of mystery surrounding the four, and a lot of rumors, myths and secrets; none of which were ever confirmed.

"Well you may know about the sword of Godric Gryffindor, a goblin-made sword of immense power embodying all his power. Now when he had this sword made it made Salazar Slytherin insanely jealous and angry; so in the greatest of secrecy he had his own sword made by the goblins; the sword of Salazar Slytherin." Artemis pretended not to be shocked, as he knew exactly where the sword was. "If he gets a hold of the sword the only one who will even stand a chance is Dumbledore."

"So we find the sword before he does, and use it to destroy him."

"I'm afraid destroying him wont be that easy, he's done something to himself. He's changing, becoming more powerful; immortal even."

"How?"

"Not sure, he's been disappearing now and then, and each time he comes back less human. The only one he takes with him is that damn snake of his, Nagini." All these secrets were making Artemis sick, yet another thing he had to find out, and time was running short. If Tom ever found the sword he would be impossible to conquer. Artemis pondered all this new information.

"Xavier you stay here and use my books to find out anything you can on gaining immortality. Desra you best get back before you're missed." Desra smiled and with a _crack_ disapparated and was gone.

"What are you going to do?" Xavier asked.

"To find the sword of course." Artemis cloaked himself and set out. The snow was starting to dissipate and melt. Spring had not yet arrived, but winter was slowly dying giving glimpses of life in the plants. Just as Artemis reached the outside of Hogsmeade he felt himself lifted off the ground; being carried higher and higher, soaring into the air. Artemis struggled for his wand but could not reach it, and o matter how much he flailed he could not free himself from whatever had a hold of him. The air was zooming by so fast he could barely see where he was or where he was going. And all at once he was dropped onto the hard ground and was setting in the wet grass. He saw a white line painted on the grass and as he looked up saw he was inside a Quidditch stadium filled with people who cheered and yelled with excitement. Artemis felt he was going mad, he barely had time to reason out why he was here before something flew by at what seemed the speed of light and knocked him down. He hit the floor flat on his back and heard the spectators shout an extra loud whoop of glee. Artemis stood again riddled with confusion and again something flew by lightening fast and threw him to the ground again and again. Each time the audience roared loudly, and now Artemis was really getting pissed.

Artemis got himself up and drew his wand; floating in front of him high up was a man on a broomstick. He had dark curly hair and a goatee that was clear to see on his light skin, and was wearing what seemed like some sort of Quidditch robes. He had a cocky smile on his face and he threw his fist into the air rallying the crowd like a mighty Gladiator. His eyes met with Artemis' and he spoke above the noise of the crowd.

"Pardon my manners, name's Felix Blakewood." He said with increasing pride.

"The Quidditch star, well I didn't realize I was being abducted by a celebrity. Artemis Gridlock at your service."

"Yeah I already know you; wanted for the destruction of eleven muggle cities."

"Twelve." Artemis corrected. They both smirked at one another, clearly enjoying the pre-battle wit. "I've no quarrel with you Blakewood, but I will kill you." Artemis said with a strike of seriousness to the banter.

"Well this is a service for an old friend of mine. Dumbledore says you've got to be stopped before you pick up your old habits."

"We'll let's see if the old man can be wrong."

"Let's." And with a _whoosh _Felix bolted toward Artemis on his broom, but Artemis was ready for him this time and he evaporated into black smoke and Blakewood flew right through him, twirling the ebony smoke. Felix flew high up circling around and as Artemis reformed he shot curses at him, but to no avail. The spells couldn't catch him; he was simply too fast; they would come near him and dissipate or fly by him. Artemis took this moment of irritation to admire his skill on a broom. But nevertheless Artemis was finding this endeavor quite bothersome, but was thrilled to be facing a worthy adversary so he decided to enjoy the pleasure of the battle.

As Felix screamed around the arena, the crowd rallying with him all the while, charms flew past him striking the sides of the stadium. Felix flew straight up into the sky and Artemis apparated into a pillar of smoke and pursued. Artemis could hardly keep up he was so bloody fast. He threw several charms at him which none were effective as he dodged them all, it was like he had eyes in the back of his head. If he could just get next to him he could take him down. Artemis pushed himself harder and harder and finally started gaining on him. As he got closer he heard past the rush of wind.

"Absentis!" At that, several white sparks shot from Felix's wand and flew in front of Artemis' face. They blinded with obnoxious light and burned at the touch, and Artemis fought hard to fend the small white devils from him. As anger swelled inside him, Artemis pushed himself through the painful sparks and got a hold on the bristles of Felix broom. Immediately the both of them were sent into a tailspin, zooming every which way like a plane with no wings. Artemis struggled to retain his grip on them, and knew this would be his best chance of stopping him; for if he could get him off his broom he wouldn't stand a chance. Artemis pulled himself further and further up the broom until he was nearly nose and nose with Felix. Now the two were a swirling mass of black smoke billowing through the air, Artemis weight throwing off the flight of the broom. He knew now this may be the chance to knock him off his broom. Felix was fighting to keep hold of the broom and Artemis was fighting to release it, while keeping his own grip firmly on the broom's handle.

Artemis struggled to hold his wand still as he pointed it at Felix's hands and yelled "Expeliarmus!" Immediately Felix's hands shot from the broom, but he did not yet fall. For much to Artemis' disappointment Felix's legs were wrapped around the broom and his head dangled upside down, the rushing winds making a mess of his curly hair. With the misplaced weight the broom shot straight down in a nosedive, and soon they were closer to the ground, bobbing up and down like a boat on raging seas. Artemis regained himself from he nosedive and shot a spark at Felix's legs, untwining them from their hold and he fell down nearly twenty feet and landed to the ground hard on his back.

The extra weight gone, Artemis seized control of the broom and flew around were Felix lay now. The crowd booed at Artemis victory and cheered as Felix finally got himself up to a stand.

"What's the matter Blakewod? Bit lost without your broom are we?" Felix merely smiled and soon Artemis realized why. Felix waved his hand and immediately the brrom began to sense the intruder upon it and tried its very damndest to throw Artemis from it. Like a bucking bull the broom thrashed left and right until finally it threw Artemis from it and he fell to the ground as the broom flew past him and Felix merely jumped and the broom carried him away. He flew past Artemis trying to avoid his reach but as Artemis flew up he got hold again. Felix yelled before he could throw him off.

"Propero!" If Artemis thought their broom was going impossibly fast before, he could not have been prepared for what seemed close to the speed of light. Before he knew it he was shooting high into the sky and plummeting down incredibly fast. Artemis was swelling now with frustration and anger at this man he could not best. As they came close to the ground Artemis flew off and landed on his feet recomposing from his smoke state and whipped around, wand in hand and began conducting the _Flight of the Bumblebee". _

A swarm of black ghost-like creatures sprang from the ground near Artemis feet, shooting as fast as bullets. They chased after Felix reaching out their long bony hands; coming short each time. The entire orchestra became louder and louder and they became faster and flew just behind him, a giant swarm pursuing him, hungry for his death. Their claws were sharp and their cloaks flapped through the air. As the notes danced the creatures moved faster and faster and began to multiply growing the swarm to enormous size. Soon the swarm of dark demons were gaining on him and was now a massive swarm, and as they chased after Felix they occasionally swarmed upon the arena which when the swarm had passed it was torn apart and destroyed. The music was rising in volume and now the whole arena was enveloped in the sound. Now the swarm was a billowing black creature, a giant cloud of apparent death. The music was even faster than before and the swarm was gaining upon Felix and soon they were upon him. But now the swarm opened up like the mouth of a whale, wide and massive; and the swarm formed on all sides of him casting him into a shadow. Then it enveloped the exhausted Felix. The swarm slashed and cut then flew to the ground and crashed in the middle of the arena. The creatures evaporated into smoke and left the poor mutilated man lying in the middle of the arena.

The crowd fell to silence, the screams of panic and the shouts of support were swept away by somber silence. Artemis approached him, and saw his clothes torn apart, and his face with a large gash on it and several slashes all over him. His torn robes were soaked in blood and his face was stained red with his own life. He lay there, defeated and dying. As Artemis approached him, he saw in his face something that he had never seen before. And all of the sudden he knew that Artemis was feeling exactly what he was and Felix and he were connected in a singular moment. These were two men, trapped in a war neither truly wanted to fight. Artemis felt sorry for the man he was about to kill, he was never his enemy, never part of the plan, but even in his innocence he had to die. There were no words, only the mutual remorse of these two warriors. Felix merely closed his eyes and Artemis thought of nothing to say, only; "I'm sorry". And with a single green flash Felix was out of his misery. Artemis conjured a black sheet over him and pointed his wand to the sky and shot a blue charm which disappeared into the clouds. Then a humble thunder clap was heard and rain began to fall. The raindrops connected everyone, Artemis to Felix, Felix to Artemis and the crowd to them both. The spectators were still in somber silence, and Artemis transformed into a tower of black smoke and soared away from this place.

Sadness still welled up inside Artemis, so much so he nearly forgot where he was going. He had never felt this kind of remorse after killing someone since Arthur, and it worried him, when the time came would he do what was necessary to complete his revenge. Inside he felt an inner conflict He did take comfort in the fact that he could still fell sadness; however minuet, but feelings get in the way. His feelings for Adora lead him to make hasty decisions; his feelings about Xavier cause him to risk himself to save him and now his remorse in killing Felix made him feel, torn. But now there was work to be done.


	18. An Actor And A Swordsman

Ch. 18-An Actor and A Swordsman

The wind rushed past Artemis face as he flew to Malfoy Manor. He had tried to put his latest murder from his mind, but the thoughts flooded his mind. Never before had he considered what he did murder. He never considered killing Broderick, Abraxas, Tiberius, or any other slime he had wiped off the earth to be a sin or act of evil. But now he had killed an innocent man, a man who got in his way and had to be stopped; just like Arthur. He tried not to think of Arthur but now he was ever reminded of him with every passing moment. One would not think the idea of killing innocent people would affect Artemis, for he had destroyed numerous cities and towns, responsible for thousands of deaths. Although he never really thought of the people he killed, but the music he made, was it evil music? It seemed so pure and magical, he never thought of it as evil, but rather how others had used him.

Artemis replayed this thought over and over in his head, but it seemed like a poor excuse to be a murderer. But drive would now put aside those feelings, he remembered the excited feeling, he knew without a doubt where the sword was and it would soon be his. Artemis entered the house and headed through the lounge where Abraxas body had been removed but leaving the room blood stained and disarrayed as he had left it. He opened the door in the back of the sitting room and clambered into the grand office where the masterpiece of a desk stood in the middle of the room. The drawers were open and pulled out, papers and other objects were scattered across the floor. Someone was here to search for the sword, but they never found it. Artemis felt across the snake perched on the top right corner and pushed in its jeweled green eyes. The sound of turning cogs was heard as the wall to the right turned revealing the glass case, which to Artemis disappointment was empty. How could this be? Tom doesn't have it, but then who has it?

Nothing left to ponder, Artemis left and disapparated home. He walked into the front door and yelled up.

"Xavier, it's me. Come down here I've got something to discuss." He heard no reply, nor any stir from upstairs. "Xavier?" He called again, with no response. He drew his wand and slowly crept up the stairs. When he opened the door to his room he saw everything as it was. The door slammed behind him and a great arm came down on his, and as Artemis turned he saw a meaty fist striking him hard in the face. He fell to the ground clutching his jaw and could taste the metallic flavor of blood. He dropped his wand and saw Gaston Mansfield picking it up with a snide smirk on his face. Artemis had a sense of impending doom about him. Where the hell was Xavier?

"I never got to thank you for putting a hole in my favorite shirt, Artemis Gridlock." He said with pompous pride. Now he knows, he knows where he lives he knows the man in the pub was Artemis and he has him now. His damn concern for the boy caused him to rush up here. Goddamn my emotions, Artemis thought.

"Who were you calling to?" Gaston said with his wand pointing threateningly at him.

"My cat", Artemis lied.

"That's pretty pathetic Gridlock", he said with a laugh.

"So I've been told. You know I'm very wealthy, I can make you very rich Mansfield."

"I don't want your money you prig. This is a service to The Dark Lord, and a vendetta of my own." Artemis' face widened with shock, it was worse than he thought. Mansfield was a spy in the Ministry, he worked for Tom. Now he had to know where he was, how long until he was at his doorstep?

"You're gonna regret humiliating me Gridlock, the Dark Lord says he wants to finish you off himself, but that doesn't mean I can't have a bit of fun before he gets here. Gaston raised his wand and opened his mouth to form the word Crucio, but before he could curse Artemis he heard a shout yelling from behind Gaston.

"Avada Kedavra!" A green flash formed a silhouette of Gaston's giant figure, and the brute fell to the ground with a great boom and behind him, anger polluting his face, was Xavier. He was trembling and his face was paper white, like his knuckles; gripping his wand with all his might. He just stood there with fury and fear in his eyes. Artemis got up still gripping his sore jaw, and came over to Xavier.

"Xavier." He still stared at the dead body and did not respond. "Xavier!" He broke his eyes from his victim, and looked up at him, face trembling. "Xavier we have to get out of here, gather up whatever you have. NOW!" Xavier snapped out of his trance and rushed into the guest room where he stayed. Artemis waved his wand and watched all his belongings whirl around the room and shrink down to an incredibly small size and pack themselves into his luggage. Another wave opened the window, and he waved his wand as a purple flash shot from the end of his wand and soon the bird Amicus was in the windowsill. Xavier came rushing in with his one bag. Artemis grabbed hold of his bag and Xavier, and with Amicus on his shoulder he disapparated.

A loud crack and Xavier face planted onto a brick path; he could hear splashing water and when he picked up his head he faced a great white brick estate topped with gray roofing. There were trees all around and no where could be seen a single other building. They were in a circular drive with a road at least a mile long leading up to it and in the distance could be seen a high gate. The circular drive ended in a pillared entranceway with ivy growing up its tall supports. A simple round fountain sprayed water joyfully into the surrounding pool. Xavier stood in awe at this magnificent home.

"Whose house is this?" He said in wonderment.

"It's mine." Artemis said smiling.

"This is your house!"

"It's was my parents, I inherited it when...when they died." Artemis stared up at the brilliant home in remembrance.

"You mean you actually lived here?"

"Heavens no, this was our summer home. We lived in a townhome, my parents were very wealthy, but they never liked to show it; never really sure why." He pondered this for a second. "Well, inside then before we're seen." Artemis picked up his bag and led the way into the estate. The foyer was immense and echoed their footsteps, and as they entered Xavier was mouth agape at this magnificent entranceway.

"This place is huge!"

"Didn't you grow up in a place like this? Your family is quite wealthy if I'm not mistaken."

"Well my parents did, my Dad sent me to live with my Grandmother", he said with bitter disappointment.

"Go upstairs and choose an empty room. But don't get too comfortable we won't be staying too long."

"Wait why not?"

"They know my family; they certainly know how to find their properties. I'll put up the enchantments." Xavier hurriedly stomped up the large staircase and disappeared from sight. Artemis went around the house putting up some protective spells. He came across a familiar door, the door to his father's study. It seemed almost preserved like a museum. The family had an anti-dust spell on their estate. Artemis approached and saw his father's desk, and on it was the statue from his company. A golden metal globe that floated over its base, in it was two wands crossed as if swords. It was a construction company, made magical buildings. Behind it Artemis saw a photo of him and his parents. Artemis looked no more than twelve; this picture was taken just before he went away to Hogwarts. Artemis smiled at the picture of his parents but then seethed with anger as he remembered that they were taken from him. They were murdered by Tom, and in a fit of anger threw the picture into the wall shattering the frame. "Damn for the way his parents death made him feel" he thought. It caused agonizing pain to see them again, to think about them again, if only the past would just die. His thoughts were interrupted by a worried Xavier coming through the door.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing", Artemis said harshly. Xavier seemed concerned, but didn't press the matter. "What did you find?" Xavier led Artemis into the dining room where he had set up all of Artemis' things. Scattered across the table were strips of parchment, open books, articles, and maps.

"I didn't find any record of the sword, according to all of this it doesn't even exist. How do we even know it does?"

"I've seen it." Artemis said sternly.

"Alright then." Xavier said going back to the table. "Now there are several rumors and theories about it, but nothing's been confirmed."

"So it's a cold trail." Artemis said with disappointment.

"Not exactly, I think I found someone who might have an idea. Take a look at this." Xavier handed him an edition of the Daily Prophet, issued about four years ago.

**MERIDIAN OFFERS ONE-HUNDRED MILLION **

**GALLEONS FOR SWORD OF GRYFFINDOR**

**BY PHILBERT SKEETER**

Once again an offer has been made by Tobias Meridian, the

famous actor and avid collector of swords and other magical

weapons, to Albus Dumbledore for the sword of Godric

Gryffindor. This is the third offer the wealthy billionaire has

made to Hogwart's headmaster for the infamous blade and

once more has been rejected.

Meridian gained most of his fortune from his father,

Archibald Meridian, now deceased. Tobias followed in his

father's footsteps by becoming an actor and has made a name

for himself performing on the stage in both the wizarding, and

the muggle worlds. His current collection of swords is said to

be vast and valued at over 100 billion galleons.

The Meridian estate is valued at nearly fifty times that number,

and has made him the second wealthiest man among wizard-kind. Meridian has been trying to acquire the sword for years and has even

been rumored to try and hire thieves to steal the sword.

Meridian is also convinced that Dumbledore is in possession of

the alleged weapons of the other three founders. Albus has

said on many occasions that he denies the existence of these

weapons and will never sell the Gryffindor sword no matter

what he is offered.

Meridian is prepared to take Dumbledore before the

Winzengamot under allegations that Dumbledore came into

possession of the sword by illegal means and that as a historical

artifact, the sword belongs to the Ministry archives. Dumble-

dore has denied all such allegations of course and unless he

yields to give the sword to the archives a court date is being

set for next month.

"Where is his estate?" Artemis said eagerly, putting down the newspaper.

"I've already plotted it on this map for you." Xavier said handing a rolled up map to Artemis who smiled.

"Good work", Xavier tried his best not to smile as Artemis studied the map, called for Amicus, and went out the front door and turning into a cloud of smoke and headed toward the fine estate of Tobias Meridian.

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There was no need for violence here so Artemis would simply see if he was home, and ask him what he knew of the sword of Salazar Slytherin. He approached the front gate, which was rather like two large wooden doors with turrets on either ends with a window on each door guarded by bars just above eye level. As he peered over to look through the window he saw the huge mansion just across the barrier. Vast, like a castle, and magnificent like one too. Artemis touched his wand carefully to the window's metal bars, and there was a shorting of sparks as the metal touched the wand. A protective enchantment on the gate no doubt; just then a pipsqueak of a voice spoke from the other side of the doors.

"Who's there?" said the voice.

"I'm here to see Mr. Meridian, may I come in?" Artemis asked pressing himself close to the doors.

"No, now go away!" Artemis kept his temper.

"It is imperative that I see him, it's a matter of some urgency."

"No! NO! NO! GO AWAY!" said this tiny voice.

"I warn you if you do not let me in, I will be forced to break in." The little voice laughed mockingly.

"Piss off!" Artemis lost his patience.

"Listen you pathetic little creaton, open the damn door or watch it get destroyed!"

"What are you gonna do? I'm in here and you're out there and there's not a..."

"Primoris Polleo!" The sound of the spell charging grew in frequency and was finally let go with brilliant golden light. The doors were blown to splinters and now the smoke began to clear, revealing a little house-elf standing in the middle of the path, pieces of wood falling all around. He looked up at the grinning Artemis, then turned around and ran to the mansion yelling in panic.

"MASTER MERIDIAN! INTRUDER MASTER! HE'S INSANE! WERE ALL GONNA DIE!" Artemis patiently walked up to the front doors just in time for the panicked elf to slam the doors yelling now inside the house.

"What the devil is going on out there?" came from a flustered man inside the mansion.

"Don't open it master, he'll kill us all!" said the screaming elf.

"Oh do control yourself Sheldon; I'm sure it's nothing."

"Listen to Sheldon master he's a mad man!"

"Hush now!" The door opened and in it stood what must've been Tobias Meridian, he wore a white collared shirt and a black vest over it was a long black house cloak, his white cuffs fanned out from the sleeves. He had long hair and a face that was the epitome of perfection, and in his front pocket was a handkerchief with a large black "M' on it. As he stood there puzzled, the house elf cowered behind his legs.

"Can I help you?" he said curiously.

"Yes, I'm here to talk to you about your collection."

"Well I'm not selling if that's what you're asking."

"Oh no, no I'm just here to employ your expertise about a certain sword." He said assuredly.

"He's lying master! Sheldon knows! Probably a thief sent by the Parkinsons! Always jealous of master's..."

"Sheldon! Away with you! Tend to the kitchen!"

"Yes master." The elf said cautiously and ran off.

"Sorry about him, he was my father's. He's well...insanely paranoid. Personally I'd rather just pay a person to clean my house. But if I fire him God knows he'd probably kill himself." The both of them chuckled. "Well come inside, let's see if I can assist you."

"Thank you." Artemis said civilly. "Sorry about the gate by the way."

"Oh, well no worries. Been thinking about replacing it for some time; looks like you just made up my mind." As Artemis entered the gracious host squinted to see down the path. "Impressive explosion too." This place made Artemis summer home look like a shack in the woods. He could've fit his estate in the foyer.

"Do come in. Sheldon! Bring us some tea will you!" Tobias led them into the front sitting room carrying with him a long black cane having a silver top. The room was a pale color, with exquisite gold trim. It was very old and Victorian looking; very elegant. He offered Artemis a seat and Tobias took the one across from him. "So how can I help you Mr.?"

"Grid...Gridding, Lyle Gridding." Close one. "I was hoping to ask you about the sword of Godric Gryffindor and the other founder's weapons."

"Ah I see...another fanatic. No worries I'm absolutely obsessed. Well if you're looking to get your hands on the sword of Gryffindor forget it. Dumbledore has it and won't ever give it up, believe me I've tried. Even took him to court on grounds that it should be in he archives. I was overruled."

"What about the other founder's weapons?"

"Well everybody knows that Godric had a sword made by the Goblins, but it is the belief of me and other historians that Salazar had one made as retaliation, believing Godric wished to banish him. Then the others had one made believing they would need one should they boys start fighting."

"What else do you know about them?"

"Well unfortunately that's all I know. There are no records of it, only wild stories and rumors. No one has ever seen them." Artemis paused and with revel said.

"I have." Meridian's eyes widened.

"Which one? Do you have it?"

"No, it was Salazar's" Tobias broke in.

"Where did you see it? What did it look like?"

"Look Mr. Meridian I don't have time for this. I need to know if there's anyone who might have any other information on the sword."

"Why the rush?" Artemis needed full disclosure with him if he hoped him to be his ally.

"My name is really Artemis Gridlock." Meridian opened his mouth as if to yell. Artemis drew his wand. "Mr. Meridian I'm a huge fan, I saw you in Hello Dolly twenty years ago and I'd really hate to have to kill you." His mouth closed. "Lord Voldemort is looking for the sword and if he finds it he'll be unstoppable. I need your help to find out where it is. Please Mr. Meridian it's the only way to stop him." Artemis put his wand away as Sheldon came in with the tea. He glared at Artemis then turned to his master.

"Everything alright Master Meridian?" Tobias looked at Artemis and not breaking contact said.

"Yes, were alright here." The house elf shuffled out staring back at Artemis.

"Alright Mr. Gridlock, I know someone who can help, but on one condition. You help me find the other weapons and I get to keep the sword of Slytherin."

"Once I'm done with it, and Voldemort is dead, you can have them all. "

"Deal." He said excitedly. "Come with me." He got up and went down the hall to an elevator. They both got in and went down, down deep below the mansion. When the door opened he was in a glorious underground dungeon. Not dark and gloomy, but magnificent and vast. Swords and weapons of all kinds were all around; hanging on the walls, in glass cases and locked behind bars. There must have been thousands. They walked through a stone arch at the entrance and walked the length of the room, Artemis admiring the swords all the way, until they came to a wooden door. He opened it and sitting on a stool with glasses perched on his nose was an old goblin working on polishing a sword. All around were tools and instruments, and a large magnifying glass stood on his workbench, with a grinder as well. In the corner was a burning fire with an anvil and hammer sitting purposefully with pieces of a broken sword next to it.

"Hello Gognar", said Tobias. Somehow that name sounded familiar to Artemis.

"Evening Mr. Meridian, your sapphire ice blade is repaired please don't play with it anymore."

"What's the point of having fun toys then?"

"These are not toys Mister..." Gognar looked up with a bit of a frustrated smirk when his eyes fell upon Artemis. His expression immediately fell to anger and rage. His sharp teeth were bared in his mouth and his black beady eyes were squinted. With such devotion he reached for a knife on his desk and hurled it at Artemis. He moved his head just in time for the knife to stick into the stone wall. Tobias protested with shock.

"Gognar! What's the matter with you?" He stepped in between the goblin and Artemis. Gognar rushed forward trying to get at Artemis.

"This man locked me in a vault at Gringotts! I was in there for 2 months! I had to lick the condensation off the walls just to stay alive!" Artemis was quickly reminded of who this goblin was. All he could think was _"of all the goblins"_.

"I'm sorry!" Artemis apologized but the Goblin's rage was endless.

"You're sorry! You left me in there to die you bastard!"

"Gognar!" yelled Meridian. "Control yourself, we need your help."

"I'm not helping him, forget it."

"It's about the founder's weapons." said Artemis. The goblins rage died down and he backed away and sat back down on his chair.

"I've already told you all I know Tobias."

"We both know that's not true. This bloak can use it to destroy the Dark Lord, so help us please."

"No, I won't, the sword doesn't belong to him, or you for that matter Mr. Meridian."

"Gognar, enough of your goblin ownership nonsense; our world is at stake you know it and I know it, and he can stop You Know Who." The goblin stared at both of them for awhile, then he reluctantly hopped off his stool and went into a back storage closet. Both men could hear him digging through various belongings and finally he came back with an old torn leather bound book. On the front was some sort of title in Goblin language.

"Know that I could be killed for showing you this. This is the history of the world according to the goblins. No human or wizard influence whatsoever. This is one of the only copies in existence written in English." Gognar opened the large book and flipped several pages until finally he came to the page he wanted. His bony long nailed finger pointed to it then stepped back allowing the two men to read it.

"_But the proudest moment in Goblin's noble history is by far the brilliant craftsmanship of the weapons of the four founders of Hogwarts. Salazar Slytherin came to the ancient blacksmiths with the request to have a powerful sword made, a sword that would impregnate within itself all of his noble power and would allow him to overthrow his three other companions. He was not met with enthusiasm and eleven of the twelve original Goblin blacksmiths denied his request, but the dark Elder Vorburn agreed to create this sword and keeping it secret from the other eleven, constructed the sword. When finished the two gloated their triumph, but the celebration was not long lived. For Salazar killed Vorburn with the sword and threw his body in the flames of the hearth to which the sword was made. Godric Gryffindor heard of this betrayal, and told the news to Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. The founders pleaded with the goblin elders to construct them weapons powerful enough to conquer Salazar's new found sorcery. The elders cursed as they could not hope to make them weapons to conquer, but they could make them weapons that could match him. Vorburn took the secrets of the dark blade to his grave and now it was impossible to know how to outmatch it. The Twelve Elders worked in haste and employed all their magical knowledge and for the founders they created; the Sword of Godric Gryffindor; constructed of the purest silver and steel, and embroidered with rubies from the mountains of Transylvania. The Bow of Rowena Ravenclaw; carved from the wisest and grandest willow in the forest, and jeweled with sapphires taken from the bottom of the deepest ocean. And the Axe of Helga Hufflepuff; forged in the fires of a raging volcano in Greece, and smelted with gold of the Goblin King. These three weapons, much like the Sword of Salazar Slytherin, embodied the power of each of the founders, and were of immense magical supremacy._

_It wasn't long until the four had a terrible confrontation. Godric and Rowena were engaged to be married, and enraged with jealousy Salazar unsheathed his sword. He gloated his invincibility but was infuriated to see his other companions were armed with goblin-made weapons and ready to defend against his evil cruelty. During the course of the battle the female founders were injured and then only Godric and Salazar remained. The melee lasted for three days, neither able to outmatch the other. Over and over they battled, until in an attempt to end the war, Rowena offered herself to Salazar. Godric raged in protest, but Rowena insister and Salazar accepted and took her away to his castle in the mountains of Northern Ireland. There he commanded Rowena be married to him on the eve of week's end. She deceived him saying she would gladly marry him, and be his forever more, and forever faithful. On the eve of the wedding she crept into his bedchambers and tried to steal the sword. But Salazar stirred and woke, and in his fit of anger cursed her. That very night Godric led the students of the school in an attack on Castle Slytherin. When they broke through Godric saw Rowena's dying body and begged Salazar to lift the curse. He asked in exchange for her life, his sword. Though Rowena protested, Godric gave the sword to Salazar. Both swords of immense power in hand, Salazar stabbed Godric and as he promised lifted the curse from Rowena. As she wept over his dying body Salazar raised his sword to strike down his enemy Godric for good. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't kill either of them. He came down on them over and over, but to no avail; his powerful blades had failed him; for they were protected by love, and he could not touch them. Godric died that night in the infirmary of Hogwarts and a funeral service was held in his honor to which all the students of the school and the kings of all wizard kind were in attendance. Salazar disappeared, and returned to the school one last time. He locked the swords in his Chamber of Secrets and he placed inside it a newborn Basilisk. In the hopes that when it grew it would assist his heir in succeeding where he had failed._

"So you see", said Gognar. "The sword lies in the Chamber of Secrets. No one's ever found the chamber, and it's not likely you will either."

"But...that's impossible", said Artemis. "I've seen the sword; it was in Malfoy Manor, in Abraxas Malfoy's office." Meridian protested as well.

"Besides, Dumbledore has the sword of Gryffindor. I've seen it in his office. This book must be wrong."

"The book is never wrong!" Gognar protested. Artemis and Tobias stood staring at the infuriated Goblin. "The sword of Gryffindor appeared to Dumbledore in a moment of need."

"What do you mean appeared?" said Tobias curiously.

"The sword was enchanted to present itself to any worthy Gryffindor if they should ever need it." Gognar slammed his fist on the table. "That bastard Dumbledore thinks it's his now! It is not his to have!"

"And the other sword?" asked Artemis.

"Abraxas came into its possession when Tom Riddle graduated from Hogwarts. Lord Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin; he opened the chamber and set the basilisk on a mud blood girl. Abraxas took in Tom Riddle and made him an apprentice, eventually his right-hand man. Tom must've given him the sword for safe-keeping, and then lied about where he had hidden it." Artemis was still not getting answers.

"But the sword is gone. Who else knew where that sword was hidden?"

"To hell if I know! Ask whoever built that damn turn around wall of his!"

"This is a complete...I don't recall mentioning a turn around wall." Artemis peered angrily at the goblin. Gognar looked up with a fearful look on his face, Meridian began to question.

"Well Gognar?" The goblin started backing into the wall behind him as Artemis and Tobias stared accusingly. "Where is the sword Gognar?" He breathed as if out of breath and looked from Artemis to Tobias and back again and again; until finally he screamed.

"IT DOESN'T BELONG TO YOU! YOU CAN'T HAVE IT! YOU..." Artemis lurched forward and grabbed the goblin around the throat, and pinned him to the wall.

"WHERE IS IT?" Artemis yelled with fury.

"NEVER!" yelled Gognar in reply and spat in his face. Artemis released his grip on him and pulled out his wand with fury.

"CRUCIO!" The goblin seethed in agony on the ground.

"That's enough" protested Meridian. "Artemis THAT IS ENOUGH!" Tobias shoved Artemis breaking his focus. The screaming ceased and suddenly there was a large _BOOM _and the house shook, dust fell from the ceiling, then the familiar cries of an elf came crashing down the stairs.

"MASTER MERIDIAN! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! REALLY THIS TIME WE ARE!" There was another loud explosion, and once more the mansion shook. "Death Eaters have entered the mansion Master!"

"Damn", said Meridian. "Well I'll have to fight them off until you can get away Mr. Gridlock."

"I'll help you", said Artemis.

"No, you stay here. Find the sword and use the floo in the back to get out of here." With that he stepped out of the room and unsheathed from his cane a gleaming silver sword. "Good luck Mr. Gridlock." Many of the intruders had made their way down the elevator. He stepped toward the Death Eaters without a single hesitation, batting away their curses with his blade. He lunged and fought them; a magnificent swordsman he was, Artemis was shocked and in awe to see him fighting like this, with such skill and power. He was kicking ass!

As Meridian waged his battle outside the Goblin still lie on the ground; the pain of the Cruciatus curse remaining in his veins. Artemis knelt down beside him, but the goblin wished him away.

"Leave me demon."

"Please, I have to have that sword."

"You're no different; you're no different from any other wizard. You'll take it, sell it, pollute it, defile it, scatter it to the winds. I can't let you do that."

"Listen to me please. Our world will end if he has his way; not the goblin world, not the wizard world, _our_ world. If he has his way you can kiss that book of yours goodbye, you can kiss your history, your precious swords, everything and anything you hold dear will be destroyed. Wizard kind has never been fair to Goblins, and they've done nothing in return, but we can make it better. Start now, I can stop him and you can help me. Make the goblin's contribution to this war and tell me. Tell me and the world will know of the brave goblin Gognar, and how he helped put an end to this war." The goblin stayed motionless for a moment, and then he pulled from his shirt a necklace. He broke the chain and handed it to Artemis, a key hanging from it."

"Gringotts?" Artemis asked.

"No", Gognar said weakly. "Goblins don't keep their belongings in Gringotts. We have our own safe place."

"Where?"

"The Sphinx, in Egypt" Artemis was confused. "Travel to Giza, approach the Sphinx at its right paw, and answer the riddle."

"What riddle?"

"I cannot tell you, it is different for every man. Search within yourself for the answer." A large bang was heard from outside as Tobias continued to fight gallantly. "Go now!" Artemis pocketed the key given to him and sprung up; heading for the fireplace with a handful of floo powder. Just before he threw down his powder, he looked to Gognar.

"Thank you." The goblin nodded and Artemis threw down his floo powder yelling out, "Gridlock estate!" Artemis felt the warmth fly up his nostrils and whirled around until finally landing in the fireplace of his estate.

Still in his mind Artemis felt some sort of deceit. Those Death Eaters knew he was there and there was only one other person who knew where he was going. He came into the dining room and saw the picture of treachery. At first he was suspicious of Xavier, but then he saw Xavier sitting in a chair; blood coming down from his mouth and head, breathing heavily in pain. Behind him stood, dagger in her hand, Desra McCloggin, three Death Eaters standing at the ready behind her, wands pointed directly at him. As Artemis went for his wand Desra pressed the dagger to Xavier's throat. He had been worked over pretty well. From the looks of it he put up quite a fight, they must have tortured him for his location.

"I see you got away Artemis, we've been waiting for you", said Desra. "We were waiting so long we had to find some way to pass the time." She said pressing the dagger firmly to his neck and forcing his head back.

"Let him go."

"Tell me where the sword is." Artemis was stuck, he could pull his wand and kill all these bastards in an instant, but by the time he did, Xavier would be dead.

"Egypt, hidden in the sphinx."

"Well then, to Egypt then." Desra grabbed Xavier by the back of his shirt and hurled him up to standing. She then nodded to the three Death Eaters who stepped forward and searched Artemis, taking his wand and handing it to Desra. She handed it back and the Death Eater pocketed the wand in his coat. The other two than pulled out these silver shackles to which they bound Artemis' hands behind his back. Desra pointed her wand at the shackles and said, "Adstringo", and Artemis felt the shackles warm and glow with a blue shine. Desra lifted her wand up and Artemis' hands were pulled up by the shackles obeying the wand like a puppet on a string, she twisted her wand, and the shackles twisted with it. He clenched his teeth in pain as his arms twisted around and Desra put her wand back down. "I think you understand how these restraints work, Artemis. So don't think of walking off or I'll break your arms." She smiled her sinister smile and pulled Artemis toward the rest of the group. "Act up and he dies", Desra said pointing to the weakened Xavier being restrained by one of the Death Eaters; wand pointed threateningly at his throat. The other two stood wands pointed at Artemis, Desra grabbed Artemis' arm, and her companions placed their hands on her shoulder. Then with a crack, they were away, finally landing on hot sand; the shine of the sun beating down on them. All around was nothingness, just dessert and pyramids scattered. As they all composed themselves they saw standing before them the Great Sphinx. They were in Egypt.


	19. In The Hall Of The Goblin Vault

Ch. 19-In the Hall of the Goblin Vault

The sun continued to beat down on them as they approached the mighty statue; Xavier being pulled threateningly along by a Death Eater, too weak to take the heat of the desert. Desra led the party along pulling Artemis along with the enchanted shackles. They now stood before the large monument, Desra asked.

"Well?"

"I have to press the key to the right paw", said Artemis. Desra then pulled the key from her coat and placed it in Artemis' bound hands. Carefully he backed into the enormous right paw and pressed the cool metal key to the hot stone. Immediately it surged a charge through the statue and the crackling of stone rang out as the head of the Sphinx looked down upon them and then squarely to Artemis. Its dark deep voice rang through the empty desert.

"_What is always too late?_

_A cruel twist of fate_

_Makes us weep when it's here_

_Does not call when it's near_

_Compels us to go back_

_Turns our entire world black_

_Now you crave another life_

_But too late, you must live with your strife"_

"What is it?" Desra demanded of Artemis.

"I'm thinking, he said sternly." The entire party thought in silence, the cruel sun pulling the sweat from their skin. Suddenly a voice of one of the Death Eaters spoke out.

"It's time, yeah time. Go back in time that's what it is." Artemis tried to stop him.

"I don't think that's..." The Death Eater stood before the shifting head and yelled.

"TIME!" The Sphinx reeled its head back, bearing its teeth and roared a mighty roar. In its agape mouth glowed a bright green light growing brighter and brighter as the sky grew darker. Then with a gust of power the Sphinx projected from its mouth an incredible beam of green death that enveloped the damn fool. All others hid their faces from the unbearable intense light. When they looked after the beam had receded they saw the shape of the man. He was a charred silhouette and fell to ashes, and blew away in the desert wind. The others looked around in panic.

"Think you can pick us off one by one eh Artemis!" Desra said twisting the shackles causing Artemis to seethe in pain.

"I didn't know!"

"What's the answer?" She said with a shout.

"I don't know!"

"Say it or he dies!" Desra motioned to the Death Eater holding Xavier who pressed his wand harshly into his neck. Artemis thought of what Gognar had told him; that he would need to look deep within himself to find the answer. Finally he knew and stood before the grand Sphinx and shouted.

"REGRET!" The massive head retreated back to its original place than formed itself once more as a motionless statue. The rumbling of the Earth shook them all as the right paw lifted from the ground and a large hole was opened before them. As they looked down they saw a long dark staircase, lit only by a few torches. All of their captors lit the ends of their wands and pulled their prisoners along down the deep dark passage.

The flickering torches along the stone corridor warmed the cool underground passageway. This place has known magic, a lot of it, but not the normal kind of magic you feel. He felt something like a warm prickling shoot through his body, and he stopped dead in his tracks. He spoke to his captors.

"Do you feel that?" All of them looked around cautiously and suspiciously.

"Feel what?" Desra asked in reply.

"That...never mind", the party continued down the hall passing steel door after steel door all having a key hole much lower than on normal doors. Above each door was an engraving of three symbols, similar ones were on the key. Desra kept looking from the key to the doors trying to find the matching vault. They came across a split in the passage, now they were at an impasse, turn left or turn right? Artemis felt that same warm tingle on the left side of his body; something was telling him the way.

"Left." Artemis said assuredly.

"How do you know?" Desra said. Artemis said nothing just looked to her. And then they proceeded down the left passage. As they continued on Artemis kept feeling this strange feeling around him. Wondering why no one else could feel it, when it dawned on him. This place is of ancient magic, _antiquus magicom, _Artemis was the only one here with it. Maybe he could control something here; he felt like a puppet master holding a string but didn't know what was tethered to the other end. Another turn, this time a four way turn. Artemis felt the sensation on his right side, and turn right they did. This place was something of a labyrinth; if he could get these shackles off of him, and get him and Xavier separated from their captors he knew that something could lead them out of here. Yet another turn, same as the first time only now they turned right, and again and again he felt the sensation pulling him to where he needed to be. He couldn't explain it, nor did he even care, but some part of him was being led by a guardian of some sort; another left, then straight through the next one. Artemis looked to the wall and saw that the flames grew in intensity when he walked by. And the chains along the wall pulled to him like a magnet. Finally he was being jerked to a halt.

"This is it!" yelled Desra. Above the door were the three symbols on the key.

They turned the key and creaked open the heavy metal door. These vaults were large with torches within them. In the middle of the room in a glass case stood the prized possession. The Sword of Salazar Slytherin in its entire splendor. Desra waved her wand at it shattering the glass case, stepping cautiously toward it. No matter what Artemis did, as long as Desra had these binds on him he could do nothing. He looked to Xavier, still weak but pulling through. His guard was distracted by the sword and didn't see Artemis making eye contact with him. He looked to Xavier than to Desra, shaking his chains to indicate what he needed to grab. Xavier nodded as Desra reached into the shattered case and pulling out the sword. Eyeing it like a priceless jewel. She places her wand in her pocket as to caress the blade with both hands. Her sinister smile extends across her face, pleased with herself. Now she turns herself to gloat at Artemis; holding the blade close to her, admiring its shine. She approaches him closely, now turning her back to Xavier, getting in his face.

"Thank you Artemis, he will be pleased." Xavier nods to him. The stage is set, now to draw the curtain. He arched back and swung his head full force, smashing into Desra's nose. Xavier ducked out of the arms of his sentinel and lurched forward grabbing the wand out of her pocket and stunning the other Death Eater. Artemis thought of the flames and beckoned them to expand and the room was swept up with warm flames distracting their keepers. Artemis spun round and ran out the door following Xavier. Artemis ran down the hall Xavier following, turning left then right then right again. From the room Artemis heard a bellowing cry from the infuriated Desra.

"AFTER THEM!" The two ran full speed, Artemis being beckoned left than straight then left.

"How do you know where you're going?" Xavier asked. "How did the fire..."

"Just follow me", behind them they heard the feet clamoring in pursuit; yelling in dismay.

"Where the hell are they?" yelled one. The two came around a corner; Artemis motioned to Xavier to use the wand to release him. Xavier pointed to the shackles yelling:

"Eximo!" The cuffs relinquished their grip and turned once again to their shiny silver sheik, falling to the floor with a clatter.

"This way!" A deep angry voice yelled out.

"Give me the wand and wait right here, I'll be back for you." Xavier nodded then slumped down to the floor waiting in the entranceway of a vault. Artemis asked all the torches to extinguish and the corridors grew dark. He pointed his wand and his eyes saying. "Atrum Videa", and now he saw everything perfectly clear in a glowing blue. He gave the wand back to Xavier. "Here, protect yourself." Xavier took the wand holding it at the ready.

Artemis could feel the sensation pulling him where he wanted to go, toward his enemies. Finally he came across one wandering through the halls, fighting through the darkness. Artemis crept up behind him and told the chains to bind him; they flung round whipping about like snakes and wrapped themselves around him hoisting him up by his neck strangling him to death, then searched through his pockets for his wand. Not here.

As he crept through the corridors he could hear the echoes of Desra and the other two Death Eaters, cursing the darkness. He saw the dim glow of their wands around the next turn, and followed round. As he bound the next one with his back to him, Desra swung round throwing several green flashes at the shadow of a man who had come and gone. Looking bewildered at her dead counterpart hanging by a chain. Yet again his wand wasn't there. Artemis crept around again but this time was met with the remaining Death Eater.

"Hands up!" Artemis put his hands up turning round seeing this one was holding the sword itself. "I've got 'im!" He yelled to his leader. Artemis saw a large brick wiggle in its place, and he simply moved his hand and the brick flew from the wall and smashed into his body. Artemis took the sword and found his wand. Now he was bounding back to where Xavier was. Feeling where he was sitting, the halls speaking to him. He rounded the corner to where Xavier was, but found he was gone. Artemis waved his wand across his face extinguishing the charm on his eyes, then commanding the torches to light once more. Where was he?

"Give me the sword!" Artemis turned, wand pointed to kill, finding Desra holding Xavier round the throat, wand pressing into his neck. Artemis saw the terrified eyes of his companion, and thought of Arthur, he couldn't bear to see another innocent die on his behalf. Whether this would be the end of him or not, he would not be responsible for his death. He threw down the sword and her feet, she commanded Xavier to pick it up and hand it to her. Silence fell through the corridor, the sound of the dancing flames purged the sadness of Artemis heart, he wasn't angry, only sad and filled with regret.

"Thanks much." Desra said plunging the sword into Xavier's back.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Bellowed Artemis rushing forward as Desra turned heel and ran away. Artemis caught the limp falling boy, holding him and seeing the light go from his eyes. Begging him not to die, he held the back of his head. Blood spat from his mouth and gurgled out one last thing.

"Thank...you..." Artemis was grief stricken and confused. "...for...everything" He released his last breath and his head fell back, dead. Artemis held the boy in his arms, stunned and angry. Inside he felt something brewing; horrifying shame and remorse now were mixing with raw seething hatred. He slid his fingers over his eyelids and laying him on the ground stood looking down at him. Falling back to the day his parents died, as he held their dead bodies he felt as if the entire world had gone dark, and time had ceased. Everything moved so slowly, so purposefully as to imprint this moment into his mind. He was feeling it all over again. Falling to his knees now he yelled a horrible scream; flashes in his mind flew by like painful knives on his brain: Arthur's body in the trunk, Artemis' powers being stripped, Broderick catching fire, Adora being thrown into the ceiling, Abraxas beating Lucius, his dead parents lying motionless.

He thought of his purpose and what he knew it to be, now more than ever he questioned it. As anger tapped its hot fingers on his shoulder, he was reminded of the murderer who was getting away. He ran forward down the passage. Letting his feelings guide him to the exit. Soon he was upon the final tunnel, which at the end of it bore the light of the desert sun. A figure was sprinting for it, just out of reach. Artemis bolted as fast as he could, but suddenly felt himself going even faster, the walls seemed to be pushing him along. He was in range.

"Avada Kedavra!" The green flash flew down the dark hall and was deflected by the shining silver blade to which Desra clutched. Her snide laugh echoed to Artemis and beyond. He ran trying again and again but the blade would not allow it; would not allow it's bearer to die. Suddenly she was on the stairs fleeing; soon she would be able to disapparate. She pulled herself into the sunlight now staggering up the stairs approaching her escape. Artemis had a thought, and without analyzing it shouted.

"THIEF!" The halls rumbled and Desra turned round confused to his cry. The familiar roar of the Sphinx echoed through the catacombs as Artemis made his way to the top of the stairs. Desra turned to Artemis waving goodbye. Then the mighty head of the Sphinx came down and swallowed her up. Her screams of terror were ended as the great statue closed its grand jaw, finishing her off; the beast then spit up the sword landing with a thump on the hot sand. Artemis reached down for the sword, his hand nearly touching the handle when he was thrown to the side with great force. He landed in a dune, looking up to see the bloody face of the Death Eater he had clobbered with the brick holding the sword in his hand. Artemis pulled his wand sharply. _Crack! _He was gone.

The paw of the Sphinx closed once more and returned to its fixed nature. Artemis yelled into the emptiness of the desert, shooting charms into the sand, blowing large clouds into the air. His anger was boundless.

Finally he collapsed into the sand, panting with disappointment as his thought polluted his mind. Tom would soon have the sword, and soon he would be unstoppable. He had no idea what to do. First thing is to get out of this sun. He stood and disapparated arriving just where he had left. Seeing the chair Xavier was sitting in, its upholstery stained with his blood. He suddenly had the urge to cry, he _wanted _to cry; a feeling which he hadn't felt in quite some time. He felt the sadness welling up in his stomach and making its way to his throat, but he couldn't do it. No matter how many sad things he polluted his thoughts with he could not bring forth a single tear.

The sadness now mixed with fear; fear that he had somehow become less human. He remembered back to what Desra had said about Tom _"He's been disappearing now and then, and each time he comes back less human"_. Was he becoming less human, was it already too late? Could it be that he was no better than the monster who calls itself Lord Voldemort? These thoughts shook Artemis down to his core, literally shivering him. He collapsed onto the floor, no air, just endless regard; endless regret.

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Artemis sat on his back balcony that night, gazing out over the endless forest. Drinking away his anguish, he was thinking less and less of his troubles as he slipped from reality. He began to feel he inebriation fall over him as they night grew darker and darker; crickets chirping and the noise of the greenery below hissing into the twilight. He slumped back into the chair perched on the high stone veranda.

"What could I have done? What could I have changed? What could I have done differently?" He said these questions out loud to himself hoping an answer would come to him, hoping someone would speak to him. As he moved further into intoxication he thought of how he could have stopped this in his past, if only he had known then what he had knew now. He knew he was wrong to oppose Broderick, that he only had his best interests at heart, and how all those he believed cared for him were traitorous villains. All he had now was his only love Adora; she was now in the clutches of a monstrous evil creature, and his son. He had early forgotten about his son, nearly twenty years old. Without a father all those years, and Artemis being helpless to he there for him, added to his regret. He had dreamed of having a son with Adora, and now he too was a prisoner in Tom's lair. He had always dreamed of raising Lucius, but now he too was as evil as his father. He had failed in that instance as well. Now with Xavier dead, the only real live friend he had ever had since his isolation was now gone, and it was his entire fault. All of this was his fault.

As he thought of his loneliness, Amicus landed on the arm of his chair and brought a slight smile to Artemis' face. With that glimmer of happiness he slumped into his chair feeling the rest coming over him. He passed out in the cool night; Amicus nestled on his arm, sinking finally into peace.


	20. A New Order

Ch. 20-A New Order

"What's the matter with him?"

"He's passed out."

"This is a bad idea, he's drunk."

"This man can really help us Molly."

"Shake him or something Remus."

"Wait I think he's coming to."

"I'll help him up"

Artemis' eyes blink wildly as his sun flooded terrace is now occupied by several blurry silhouettes. Which the more he blinks the more focused they become. Standing before him is the strangest collection of people. A man with long shaggy hair and scars all across his face, a plump red haired woman, and what must've been her just as red haired husband, Artemis remembered he had met him at the Ministry while disguised as Tiberius Finks. There was a beautiful girl with auburn hair helping him to a stand and what looked like a nerd with round glasses and messy black hair. The woman helping him up spoke with such a soft voice.

"How're you feeling?" she said with a slight grin.

"Dreadful, my head is pounding." She pulled out her wand and pressed it gently to his temple.

"Arguo Cranus." Artemis felt partial relief to his throbbing head but still could feel the pounding of an apparent hammer on his temples. "Sorry, it's not meant for...well alchohol induced headaches.

"Thanks", he said with a grumble, squinting his eyes from the sunlight.

"We should probably get him out of the sun, come on." She hoisted him up with the help of the man with round glasses and went into the estate; ending his assisted stumble on the sitting room couch.

"Under normal circumstances I believe introductions would be in order." Artemis said. The woman that helped him spoke up first.

"I'm Lily Potter, this is my husband James." She said pointing to the nerd like man. "That's Molly and Arthur Weasley", she said pointing to the red-haired couple. "The one with the long hair is Remus Lupin", he waved to Artemis who gave him a nod still half covering his eyes as he slumped further into his seat.

"Yeah great, why are you in my house?" Artemis asked.

"Were members of the Order of the Phoenix, we fight Lord..."

"Yeah I know _who_ you are; this still doesn't tell me what you're doing here."

"This is hopeless!" said Molly.

"Now Molly", said her husband.

"Well you obviously want my help, but I don't see why I should considering your blessed founder tried to have me killed." The members looked to each other uncomfortably. "Oh I see; he doesn't know you're here." Artemis said with the slightest smirk.

"The fact is Mr. Gridlock; we do need your help. Lord Voldemort is growing more powerful every day. We know about your...skills, and we think you can help us bring him down." Said James as Artemis laughed loudly.

"I've had enough of this, he can't possibly help us!" Molly said in impatient anger.

"You're right, I can't. No one can", the members of the Order looked puzzlingly at one another. "I don't know if you are aware, but Lord Voldemort just got his hands on a brand new toy." Remus spoke up.

"The Sword of Salazar Slytherin we know, but..."

"There is no but okay! He's won! Game over! Go home and spend whatever time you have left with your families!" As Artemis looked over at James he noticed for the first time he was holding a newborn baby. He retracted himself as he saw Lily's head fall. "I mean...I just don't see what chance any of us stand against him now." Molly spoke up again.

"Just as well we shouldn't be asking help from a murderer."

"Yeah I'm a murderer. I had everything and everyone that mattered to me taken away and I set out to get them back, and killed anyone in my path. Can you say you wouldn't do the same?"

"Thousands are dead because of you! Innocent good people laid to waste by your hand!"

"I was tricked; under the influence of Voldemort!"

"So he just happened to put the idea of genocide in your head!"

"I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING!" She is taken aback by this outburst.

"What do you mean you..."

"I just...felt...the music...It's difficult to explain. I didn't realize what I had done until after. All that mattered to me was the music, it's a very dangerous part of me and he abused it!"

"Excuses! You knew what you were doing every time!" Her husband stepped forward seizing her shoulders.

"Molly stop it!"

"Are you forgetting Arthur? He killed Felix! ONE OF US!"

"Get out of my house!" Artemis shouted, Lily protested.

"Wait, Artemis."

"GET OUT!"

"LISTEN TO ME PLEASE I BEG YOU!" Silence enveloped the room and Lily stepped forward placing her hands on each of Artemis' shoulders. "I know what he did to you Artemis; I know you are in such pain. We all have a past were not proud of, but you are the only one who can help put an end to this."

"I'm sorry." Artemis turned and walked out of the room.

"They're going to kill Adora." Artemis stopped dead in his tracks. The words hung in the air like a looming vulture finally swooping down and impaling him in the gut.

"When? Why?"

"In three days, she's a part of some ritual, something to make You Know Who immortal. We don't really know exactly." Artemis paced about the room, the eyes of the Order pasted to his every movement. He didn't even to care to know how they had this information or even of Adora's existence or connection to him, it didn't matter.

"If I am going to help you", Artemis said. "You should know I have a vendetta with your Ministry, and I will destroy it, and I will kill any of you that stand in my way." The members all shifted around uncomfortably.

"You don't have to Artemis", Lily said sweetly. "You can let it go."

"No I can't." Artemis said after a moment.

"You can." she said softly. A large gap of sound erupted between them, and Artemis saw something. Something in her eyes, it was magical and soothing like that of a lover. He hadn't even seen this in Adora's eyes. It was compassion, something he had once known but had forgotten. He could remember the passion with Adora, the frenzy and the ecstasy, but here there was a new tenderness. It was foreign but it was welcome and suddenly Artemis changed his mind. He turned to the rest of the room.

"Well if I am going to defeat him, I'm going to need something better than an angry ginger woman to back me up." He said with a smile.

"In addition to the assistance of the Order we think we've come across something of value to someone like you." James said handing the child over to Lily.

"Someone like me?" Artemis said inquiringly.

"Enough with the cryptic talk James." Said a new rough voice coming from the entrance to the foyer; a grizzly man with greasy long hair and some sort of mechanical eye strapped around his head now limped into the room supported by a large staff. "We may have discovered the location of the wand of Beethoven." The rest of the Order seemed to beam with some sort of pride while Artemis was taken aback.

"Beethoven was a wizard then?"

"Evidence suggests so", said Lupin.

"Such as?" Artemis said as James handed him several parchments. Lupin continued.

"He was one of the most influential composers of all time and he did so while even being deaf near the end of his life. There's also a theory that suggests he died from Phoenix flu, which one of the main symptoms is deafness."

"So his wand is with his remains?"

"Unfortunately it's not that easy."

"It never is", commented Artemis.

"Beethoven was buried in the Wahring cemetery in 1827 but his body was exhumed and reburied in the Zentralfriedhof cemetery in 1888."

"So where is it?" The strange man with the odd eye continued.

"Well the tale is such that the Ministry snuck into the grave and put his wand with his body, which Beethoven's muggle friends mistook as an attempt at grave robbing. But when the body was moved whoever dug it up must have found the wand."

"Who dug it up?"

"The particulars may vary but the procedure was paid for by the Society of Music Friends in Vienna. So we believe its founder may have had possession of the wand. The founder, Joseph Sonnleithner, also happened to be Beethoven's attorney so we believe he was in possession of the wand as well as Beethoven's 10th symphony."

"There was no 10th symphony he died before he could even begin it.

"DON'T always believe what you read boy! The symphony exists and if you're able to get your hands on it, you'll have the most powerful weapon that Voldemort can't use."

"I've used other music of his, they could still be beaten."

"Not this one", he said with a clenching grin. "Beethoven shared the power of musica, and he wrote this symphony specifically for that ability. Wielding it and the wand of Beethoven, you would be unstoppable." When he had finished, the room stood in silence as Artemis contemplated this proposition.

"Seems odd you would want to give me an enormously powerful weapon to someone like me." The crazed man laughed heartily.

"It's not you we're worried about." Artemis forced a smile. "So you're off to Vienna Mr. Gridlock."

"So where am I supposed to start?"

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE SMART!" He said with a whimsical rage. "So figure it out!" As he turned to leave the room the rest of the Order followed behind him until only James and Lily were left at the back of the group. Lily holding her child and gently rocking it.

"What's his name?" Artemis asked tenderly.

"Harry", she said looking at Artemis with a smile.

"Nice name", Artemis said. 

James took Lily by the hand and led her out of the room, she stopped turned toward Artemis saying only. "You have a choice." Artemis nodded but thinking more about his new trip he was making he wondered with humorous admiration as to why every time you need to improve yourself or defeat an enemy you have to go find something. Although by now he was pretty much used to it.


	21. The Mysteries Of Ludwig Van Beethoven

Ch. 21-The Mysteries of Ludwig Van Beethoven

With a new purpose coursing through his veins, Artemis disapparated to Vienna, Austria; where he hoped to find the long lost wand of Beethoven as well as his never before seen 10th symphony. But where to start? The only place he could think to begin was Beethoven's grave site.

As he traveled to the infamous site of the three composer's graves he could see the sun beginning to set behind the beautiful greenery. The soothing darkness was enveloping the landscape and a calming serenity was in the air.

In the enclosed circle of the cemetery stood three statues, enclosed by trees and trimmed shrubs all sitting upon a circular path. To the right was a large square tombstone; engraved in the marble were two figures of a man and a woman. She appeared to be crowning him with a crown of olive branches. In the center was a monument upon which a weathered bronze statue sat. It had turned green with time and was enclosed with flowers and guiding bars. Artemis strolled along the path taking in the monuments. Finally on the far left was a large grave stone pillar. Embroidered with a golden lyre, surrounded by quaint pillars with metal decorative gates between them, underneath lay a bed of flowers, and written across the front was the name Beethoven.

Artemis stood before the grave of the greatest and his most favorite composer, taking in the majesty of this gravesite. A couple came into the site and was strolling about holding hands. They looked at Artemis with a strange parting glance, taking in his black and purple cloak and suit. As he gazed upon the pair, so in love, he thought not of Adora, but of that woman he met, Lily. He tried to shake the connection from his mind, strange that it was even here at all. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a rustling of branches behind him, and as he turned to look he saw a glowing light. The warm glow of a lantern illuminating a bony arm and as the lantern moved aside Artemis saw an old man shone in the shadows of the twilight with an orange luster. He was extremely frail looking with a tall staff, and white shaggy hair and a beard. Glowing off his bald head was the light of his lantern and he was draped with ragged leather clothes and had a buckled cape over his shoulders. He was looking at Artemis with a frightful delight causing him to reach for his wand.

"Is it you?" The old man said with a haggard tone. Artemis did not reply to the man half in the brush of the cemetery. He peeked out further approaching Artemis in his hunched gimp. "It is isn't it; you're the angel, my angel. He told me, he told me one day you'd come, and now you're here." He smiled showing his crooked yellow teeth and wheezing a slight giddy laugh.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken sir. Good day." Artemis turned to walk away until he heard the old man speak again.

"You seek the wand. Don't you, you seek the wand of Ludwig van Beethoven." Artemis turned seeing his wanting face.

"Do you know where it is?"

"Oh do I, do I ever sir. Come angel." He reached his arm and grazed his fingers across the engraved name and now they glowed with golden light. The iron gates in front of the tomb bent like snakes forming a new path leading to the base of the small tower. The man reached out his arm and just as if the marble statue had turned to liquid he walked through it and disappeared into the monument, rippling like the waves of water. Artemis walked cautiously to the front of the grave, then reached out his hand and watched it meld into the once solid piece. It felt like wet sand as he pulled his hand out observing it to ensure it was safe. He took in a breath and stepped through.

He opened his eyes and was now standing in a scattered room at the center of which was a piano of a dark golden wood atop of it was scattered all manner of papers, melted candle stubs, and broken quills and ink bottles. The room was tall and circular and all around the walls were made of shelves stuffed to their peak with what must have been hundreds of thousands of scrolls, parchments, and books. A ring circled around half way up the room as the second floor, with a curving staircase leading to it. Illuminating in a dim glow above was a chandelier hanging crookedly with numerous broken pieces. Artemis saw the man just ahead of him rifling through the shelves upon a ladder. He stepped through the small arc leading into the room, and quickly glanced behind him to see nothing but a blank wall. With an exclamation of triumph the old man found what he was looking for and pulled a large leather bound book. Slamming it upon the pianos top knocking over a violin and several papers, he turned to Artemis waving his hand for him to come nearer. He was, however, still wary of the old man. After all he didn't know him, and this could easily be a trap. But time was running short, what choice did he have?

"What is this place?" Artemis said coming nearer and stepping in front of the keys of the piano running his fingers gently across their white and black ivory.

"It was Beethoven's study, his real study. He composed all his greatest works here, works that mankind will never know." He grunted as he opened the massive book and turning the pages stopping on one particular page, pointing to a passage. "Come, come look here angel." Artemis stepped over to the book. "Beethoven's prophecies, look here it is you my angel." His bony finger pointed at a passage squared in the middle of the page.

"_Behold the angel of death._

_ He comes in amethyst flames, _

_ Riding upon the wings of darkness._

_Surrounded by black night,_

_ wicked in nature, light lost within._

_ A child of music, only he can proceed _

_ To use my power to smite the snake_

_ But who is good and who is not_

_ Old friends become foes._

_ Tried three times shall he be,_

_ take mine wand and set my servant_

_ free."_

"You see!" Said the old man riddled with excitement. "It is you; you've come to free me. My angel has come to set me free!"

"Stop it, why do you keep calling me that?" The old man came to Artemis' side and turned him round and pointed up above the arch from which Artemis just came. Hanging in a golden frame was a portrait. A portrait of him!

"Where did you get this?" Artemis demanded in shock.

"He painted it, the night before his death." The portrait was indeed of Artemis Gridlock, only as some sort of angel, for he had large wings and purple flames above his head. In his hand he held a sharp sickle and in his other some sort of magical orb. He wore magnificent violet robes and was enveloped in black. Artemis was stunned, the likeness was uncanny. Beethoven was obviously a seer, a great one at that. To predict something so far into the future has never been done before.

Artemis was somewhat concerned to be called the angel of death, but he did seek the wand, and obviously this old man had something to do with finding it; although he was not looking forward to being tried three times. The old man felt along the shelf looking for something.

"Who are you?" Artemis said.

"I am Joseph Sonnleithner, attorney to Beethoven, and the founder of the Society of Music Friends."

"Joseph Sonnleithner died over a hundred years ago." The old man chuckled.

"If only he did", he said pulling upon a book, setting apart two of the shelves that unfolded to reveal a long decorated corridor. He grabbed his lantern and motioned to Artemis to follow.

"What are you doing here, if I may ask?" Artemis said as they walked down the grand hallway.

"When Beethoven died, his will specified where he wanted to be buried, but when our Society exhumed the body we found something that wasn't there before."

"His wand".

"No, his alternate will, it was a strange envelope in which it was contained. It would not open to anyone but me. We tried and tried but nothing could tear the parchment until it was brought to me. In it were specific instructions as to where the wand was hidden, I followed those instructions and found this place. When I came upon the wand I reached out to touch it. From that day forward, no matter how long I walk upon this Earth, or put myself in harms way, I remain immortal."

"What do I have to do with all this?" He stopped in his tracks and turned round and approached Artemis closely.

"You are the angel of death, here to use the wand for its true purpose. Vanquishing evil was all that he cared about. His only fear was that his madness, his power, his music could be used for evil." He turned and continued down the hall until they came upon a grand golden double door. On it was engraved thousands of swirls. He stopped in front of the door, turned to Artemis saying.

"Open the door. The first test, you must open the door with musica."

"How do you know so much about wizards? You're a muggle."

"I've had plenty of time to learn. Now open the door."

"Alright…You might want to stand back." The old man gimped behind Artemis as he pulled his wand from his coat. He thought of a song, then took a deep breath and with forceful power began.

A hit from the orchestra! The rumbling of tympanis, the low charging syncopations of the deep brass, the strings echoing back with a stabbing blow. Now the trumpets repeating the dark tremulous melody while flames erupt treacherously from Artemis wand. A rise in tempo, the flames take shape swirling overhead like a predator in the sky. The crimson fire now takes the very shape of the composition's name. Stravinsky's Firebird rings throughout the long hall, illuminating the engraved walls, plastering a harsh orange hot glow over Artemis and the old man. The bird flies eclectically to the beginning of the hall, then with impressive headway charges at the golden door. The violins race up and down with mysterious eighth notes, the trumpets answer back with supreme sharp tones. Raising in tempo the bird gains speed, faster and faster ending the piece with a triumphant high as the fiery phoenix crashed with devastating force into the door. Flames swirl and a gust of wind blows back Artemis' cloak igniting his eyes with the light from the blaze. As the explosion receded and the flames disappeared, Artemis saw with stupefying disbelief that the door still stood. Silence broke over the two, Artemis was speechless, and how could it not have worked? Suddenly the old man broke the silence.

"You're going to have to do better than that. I would've assumed an angel would know what he's doing." He said with concern.

"The door won't open! I tried."

"Not with force dear angel, serenity. Not with power but with humility." Artemis couldn't even begin to think what he was talking about. His mind wandered, wandered back to his lessons with Broderick, all those years he had nearly forgotten. Broderick had once taught him how to use music to repair a clock without having to take it apart. The music gave him eyes within it, he could see all the parts move about to their correct places. It was much different that what he had done before, or what he had mastered. Honestly he never thought he would ever use it, and now he wasn't even sure if he could do it. But mustering the memories of his past he chose the most serene song he could imagine, breathed deeply and began.

The tremulous breathy cry of a flute, dancing with the mysterious trills of a piano while a single violin caresses the melody. A beautiful mystery, a heavenly dissonance, the majesty of a glass harmonica flies above as a blue mysterious vapor erupts from Artemis' wand. Swirling round and round like majestic smoke arcing high above it leaks a gentle mist that kisses the skin with a cool touch. The mist approached the door like an intruder, filling the nooks and crannies. The piano does a marvelous trickle downward, and the strings tenderly pluck a static note. The door is leaking the mysterious mist. Artemis cracks a faint smile, he sees something, he can actually see inside the door. The smoke does his bidding, moving the hundreds of cogs and turners into place, the cracking of hammers inside, the tumblers clicking purposefully within the door. Soon a loud final lock is heard, the door is unlocked, and the mist comes out of the door while the violin hangs lightly in the air. The gentile falling trills slow, bringing the brief piece to an end, the obedient mist comes round again circling round Artemis casting itself into the air, then letting itself fall, dissipating as it reached the ground. Silence, peace, tranquility; Artemis smiles at his feat, watching the massive door move its magnificent self with open arms.

"Well done angel! Well done!" Artemis was stunned with himself; he looked at his wand with disbelief, mouth slightly agape. "What was that splendid music?"

"Aquarium, from the Carnival of the Animals…Saint-Saëns." The old man Joseph came to Artemis' side now, nudging him along.

"Well come now, onto the second task!" Artemis followed the old man through into complete darkness. Their footsteps echoed in the black abyss. Suddenly the old man stopped and tapped his staff three times on the hard floor. With brilliant vivacity the room came alive. All manner of torches ignited with stunning light, a magnificent chandelier above glowed with royal radiance. Suddenly it became clear that this was the grandest of ballrooms, empty and haunting. Each word spoken was spoken again and again, as their voices rang through this grand room. All along the numerous walls and spires were figures of ancient stories. Characters of mythology, creatures of fantasy and monsters of make believe. True craftsmanship went into this room, it was stunning. The crystal chandelier above loomed with commanding authority, and soon the old man broke his admiration.

"Now you get to show off you're destruction." Artemis didn't understand how he could be expected to destroy this beautiful room. "I assume you can dance?" Artemis had trained himself in dance during his twenty years, but didn't quite... "Then begin!" He stamped his staff upon the floor and a golden surge rushed through the floor, up the walls and into the several figures. As the intensity grew in the room the figures stirred, shaking off their slumber, transforming their solid nature. Creaking and cracking, the wooden figures left their perches; climbing down from the walls and out of the architecture. Soon he was met with an army of centaurs, satyrs, gods, and heroes alike, coming toward him with an ominous slow movement. Artemis turned to see that Joseph had disappeared; now he was soon to face an entire army. From behind approached a Greek hero unsheathing a sword; Artemis threw a charm at him, astonishingly is passed right through him, punching a hole in the wall just beyond it. Of course, he has to destroy them with musica. Now he stood his ground, and began conducting a dark little ditty. Black charms flew toward the figure and missed, blowing huge chunks out of the wall where they slammed forcefully. One after another the music threw magic toward the figure but they all missed, it was too intense, too powerful to control. Suddenly he was picked up from behind and thrown clear across the ballroom crashing into the golden door and falling down to the ground. There were hundreds of these things, how could he possibly aim and hit them all.

"I assume you can dance?" He heard in his head, and suddenly it became clear what he had to do. No reason why he can't' have a bit of fun. Being the theatric he is, he conjured a rose and grasped its stem in his teeth. An enormous organ on the other side of the room came to life, blowing the dust of its past from its weathered metal pipes. Its glorious light notes dancing down a staircase of majesty. The staccato plucking of violins emerges from the air and the glissandos of serene flutes gives way to the infamous tango El Choclo. Artemis' cloak extends itself and wraps round his arms, with every step and every turn it waves passionately; it has become deadly smoke. His steps are powerful and true, as he turns round his cloak swipes through a statue like a knife through butter and it falls destroyed. His cloak obeys the music lurching out to an approaching figure of Zeus; the statue is reduced to splinters. More and more come and to the familiar melody they fall as Artemis dances the dark ominous tango round the room. A centaur and an elf archer, a figure of medusa, and a dragon, annihilated. With every turn another figure is crippled and cut through, exploded, and shattered to pieces. The music gets faster and faster and the tom drums pick up the tempo and the organ flutters and the dark undertone of a horn and the angelic descant of the strings. He moves with such purpose, every step choreographed with the ancient art of Argentina. Spinning in his place now, swiping every figure in the room. His cloak flutters all around him, flapping as a deadly weapon. The unseen orchestra plays powerful notes in a triple meter on every beat, rising and rising in intensity, stopping for one last grand note before a harp brings it down, and Artemis winds down to his knees letting his cloak wrap round him. He picks up his head as a double bass finishes off the dance. He flings his cloak off him as it returns to its normal state. He stands looking at his scene of destruction, but it was such orderly chaos. Like nothing he had ever done before, it was incredible he could feel the music within him, moving within him and attacking with his steps. The room around him was still in tact, and now from behind him he hears the clapping of Joseph, appearing once again out of the woodwork.

"Well done Angel well done!" His face ignited with a large smile he looked up to the ceiling. "And now angel…your prize." He pointed his staff as if to the heavens, and the magnificent chandelier began to descend. Twas illuminating, a blue ambrosial light, glorious to behold and wondrously splendid; alluring, addicting to gaze upon. It came upon the floor resting upon the mutilated pieces of statue. The crystal of the chandelier bloomed like a strange beautiful flower. The fragile pieces folding out creating an opening from which a beam of light erupted. Out of the beautiful clear orchid came gentle star lights floating through the pillar of brilliance. Slowly came the wand, the wand of Beethoven, caressed by the air, hovering above the blossomed chandelier. Artemis reached out his hand; his fingers basked in the glory of the glow, their shadows apparent in the air. The light illuminating the fragile Joseph Sonnleithner, He grasped the wand, marveling at its wonder, marveling its genius. Artemis thought and with confusion asked.

"What's the third task?" With a giddy smile Joseph stood back, and opened his arms.

"_I_ am the third task. You must kill me." He said with alarming happiness.

"You can't be serious. I can't kill you."

"But you must angel, it is what you do, it is mercy angel."

"I am not the angel of death! I can't kill you, you've done nothing wrong."

"I must die, I want to die. Please set me free!" The two pause, Artemis looks to his new wand, but cannot.

"I can't, I'm sorry."

"But you…you must…it is…your destiny angel, the last three days you have proven yourself to be Beethoven's ancestor."

"Beethoven's ancestor? How could I…Wait, three days? But how, we've only been down here a few hours."

"This place is enchanted; an hour here is a day out there; a courtesy from Beethoven to me."

"But…three days. I have to go now!" Artemis ran for the door but felt himself slam into a wall, an invisible wall. Something beckoned him to stay.

"You cannot leave angel. Not until the third task is complete." Artemis was stunned.

"What about the Tenth symphony?" The old man stumbled forward, then presented Artemis with his staff, and for the first time Artemis realized that there were notes engraved on it.

"You need only roll it upon a parchment." As he handed the staff to Artemis he collapsed onto the floor. Immediately Artemis stooped down to help him. "Please, please kill me. I beg of you, be the angel I have been waiting for." He coughed a retched heave, weak and breathless; unable to die, but begging for death. Artemis couldn't bear to be responsible for the death of another innocent life, but he had to. He reached into his pocket and felt the solid jewel of Adora's heart pendant, the rigged form of the diamond chain. He was reminded of love, and compassion. He pulled it from his pocket, and Joseph Sonnleithner looked up at Artemis, and he, wishing to purify his life, was about to defile it once more. He pulled out the wand of Beethoven looking upon it with wonderment and abhorrence. They lock eyes as Artemis stands and points his wand at the old man.

Wand and staff in hand Artemis raced to the surface. The old man was right, three days had passed and today Adora would be sacrificed to make Tom immortal. He had to destroy him, but his musica may not be enough. Strong as he may be Tom has an entire army at his command. Artemis would need to make a quick stop.


	22. The Darkest Night

Ch. 22-The Darkest Night

Night had fallen upon Riddle manor, and the dim light within the dining room gave a picture to the treacherous scene within. Laid upon the long table used for meetings of the Death Eaters, was a beautiful girl in gleaming green lingerie embroidered with emeralds; around her coiled a snake, slithering around the magnificent bodice. Round the table stood several of the Dark Lords followers, and at the end was Lord Voldemort himself. Burning stubs of candles illuminate the gorgeous body of the maiden about to be slain. In humble obedience the servants remain still, their individual masks proclaiming a vicious masquerade as they watch their master raise a knife above his head ready to plunge into the perfect feminine form. The blade at its peak, then a flash.

All those in the room look out the windows, seeing a purple flash, again, and again piercing through the black night. The Dark Lord comes to the window watching the bright pulse; in frustration he throws down the dagger, the sacrifice lay motionless in a trance. They file one by one out from the manor following Lord Voldemort, the lights from the home illuminating a slight silhouette of the small armada of dark wizards. From the distance they see the flashes continue to flood the black darkness. Suddenly they see a figure emerge in the distance. Walking purposefully towards them, it stops on a hill. The Dark Lord knows, he knows the enemy which stands before him. He sneers villainously; the servants draw their wands, at the ready to strike.

"Well, well! Shouts the Dark Lord. "Artemis Gridlock! Back again I see! Surely you realize your efforts are futile! I'd like to thank you for my newest weapon you were so gracious to retrieve for me!" From behind he pulled the gleaming sword of Salazar Slytherin, it shone with a powerful emerald glow. The wavy kriss blades point touching the ground, his hand perched threateningly on the handle's end.

"Release Adora and my son!" Artemis yelled through the night. "Or die!" As expected they laughed at his threat.

"Not even your fancy music tricks can do you good here!"

"Last chance Tom!"

"And whose going to kill all of us Artemis, you?" He said with a gloating taunt.

"Not _me._" Artemis said raising his wand to the sky. From it shot a soaring red flare. It pierced the sky and exploded with brilliant crimson light, where it remained in the air, shining red light upon the empty field between them. Silence, the Death Eaters stand stupefied, a small snicker breaks out from Tom, and the others follow suit. Voldemort seems to open his mouth to speak before he hears something. They all do, it is a drone, like a breathy roar multiplied over and over. Soon it gets louder and then even louder. Like the battle cry of an enormous army, comes flying overhead and running with immense speed. The horde comes like a charging armada fangs bared, thirsty for blood and power.

Tom is stunned, he looks to the charging force with horror and fear which he tries his best to hide.

"GET THEM! KILL THEM! ATTACK! KILL THEM!" Tom forces himself through the mass of his followers and like a coward barricades himself in the manor, yelling fearful orders as he scrambles for safety. The Death Eaters rush out onto the battlefield wands armed and ready. The two armies get closer and closer and then…the battle begins.

A flying vampire latches itself onto a Death Eater biting into his throat as he collapses to the ground, her mouth strewn with blood as she tears his neck apart. She roars and leaps to her next target. The Death Eaters conjuring wooden stakes that go flying through the air stabbing into their enemies, some missing and some hitting right in the heart. The vampires are deadly assassins grabbing a victim by the throat and throwing him with impressive force, going whizzing through the air and slamming into the walls of the mansion. The Death Eaters are outnumbered, yet still they put up a fight, summoning beams of sunlight and burning vampires to dust. Artemis charges into the crowd, throwing spells left and right. In his fury he is distracted by the surge of war, a Death Eater comes from behind knocking him to the ground; he stands over him ready to kill. A long ebony haired vampire comes from behind and grabs him by the neck and jerking to the side, a loud crack and he falls. The vampire extends his long nailed hand and pulls Artemis to his feet. Lord Dolosus nods to Artemis and he nods back, no words are needed in this time of carnage. Dolosus turns round and roars showing his fangs lurching toward his next enemy. The blood soaked vampires screech with crazed frenzy batting aside another Death Eater, fighting like true warriors. A vampire mistress flies in front of Artemis picking up a Death Eater in his path, carrying him up and up, higher and higher. Biting into his throat and letting him fall to his death. Artemis is fighting his way toward the house. His unlikely comrades gallantly battling with immense force. The Death Eaters scream in horror as they watch a fellow companion be ripped apart, then screech in pain as their own flesh is torn into. The battlefield roars with the frightening bellows of the vampires, soaked with red life. The Death Eaters fight on and on even though it is hopeless as their numbers dwindle. From behind the house come the treacherous reinforcements. A whole array of magical creatures come barreling from behind the manor: giants armed with massive clubs, the ghostly dementors soaring through the air, werewolves come charging howling into the moonlight. Still the vampires fight on.

A dozen of them leap upon a giant, biting, clawing, and tearing into his flesh. The irritated giant thrashes and grabs at the deadly creatures feasting upon him. The dementors battle in the air with the vampires. Stabbing their deadly claws into the vampires, of course there are no happy memories to steal, yet they still deliver a cold chill to the battle. The werewolves are the biggest problem, they easily bat aside one or two, then with their mighty arms throw a vampire into another. It takes several to take down just one. From on the roof appears the figure of Tom. A small horde of vampires leaps toward him soaring through the air. Grasping the sword he waves his wand, projecting a mighty wave of sunlight, annihilating them all. Lord Dolosus and Artemis both look to the sky, Dolosus looks to Artemis.

"GO!" The vampire Lord screams to Artemis then pulling his attention back to his latest victim. Artemis runs toward the mansion, seeing now why Tom wanted these killers away from his war, they were winning. The Death Eaters began to retreat to the house. Some turning and running in fear.

"GET BACK OUT THERE! GO! GO BACK YOU FOOLS!" Tom yells atop the roof, he and Artemis link eyes. And Artemis charges toward the house. Tom furious throws massive spells, immense powerful surges blasting into the ground. The Dark Lord yelling in rage frustrated by his failure, with a scream of anger he casts his wand to the sky.

"FLAMMIMBER!" The bright fiery charm ascends to the sky, and in a fashion most biblically terrifying, the sky began to rain large orbs of fire. They come crashing as deadly meteors from heaven smashing into the battlefield igniting vampires, blowing them aside. They dash to miss the raining death as Tom turns round disappearing from view. The Death Eaters run for their lives back to the manor, some near the back being picked off by a charging vampire, they cry out for help from their comrades who bolt to safety for their own lives. The remaining few barricade the door. As the vampires wage war with the rest of the magical creatures, some of them are banging on the door thrashing and scratching the door.

"MOVE!" Artemis yells, the vampires move aside. "PRIMORIS POLLEO!" The wand of Beethoven charged, and Artemis held on harder than he ever had with this spell. He finally released and the whole front of the house exploded into splinters and chunks of stone. Artemis was lifted of his feet thrown back landing flat on the ground. He pulls himself to his feet then runs toward the gaping entrance.

"Tria Metallum!" Three metal spheres erupted from Artemis' wand. He ran through the foyer. A Death Eater to his right, he flings his wand to him and the three metal balls zoom toward him piercing through his body like musket shots. Another to the left, a flick of the wand and he is down. The spheres float around Artemis ominously and lurch toward those who stand in his way. He runs through the house calling out Adora's name. Kicking doors open, and looking to see them empty, the next one, the three balls shred through it and, no one. The next kicked in, no one. Where is she? He kicks down the next and sees a Death Eater with his wand to her throat. Artemis has his wand pointed straight for him, too risky. He licks her neck, she in her underwear, so vulnerable, being pulled by his arm round her neck. He begins to say something.

"She's going..." THONK! The sound of a metal frying pan rings through the room and the Death Eater collapses and Adora runs to Artemis. Standing over the unconscious man is the house elf Dobby.

"Dobby?"

"Master Gridlock! So good to see you!" The house elf rushes forward and vivaciously shakes Artemis' hand. The collapsed Death Eater grumbles in pain, and immediately Dobby rushes back and bashes him once more on the head. "Go now Master Gridlock!"

"Where has he gone?" Artemis asked hurriedly of Adora.

"Amadeus." She says with breathy fear. Artemis pulls her along racing down the stairs, into the back store room, and sees the passage way under the stone has been blown away. He rushes down the stairs. What should have been a moment of happiness as Artemis saw his only son for the first time, he saw instead his boy standing in front of the Dark Lord, the sword of Slytherin against his throat.

"No please don't!" yelled Adora.

"He's not the one you want Tom, take me." Voldemort sneered.

"As if I could be bought so easily." CRACK! And he disapparated with Amadeus.

"NO!" Adora collapsed in pain and tears.

"Where did he take him?" He shook Adora through her anguish. "Adora! Where did he take him?"

"I...I don't know...he...he." In shock and panic she stumbled over her words. "He had said that if...anything...uh ever went wrong. They would go to Malfoy Manor."

"Alright...let's get you some clothes. Go upstairs and throw something on quickly. Go!" Adora ran up the stairs. Artemis pulled from his pocket her emerald heart necklace, and held it to his lips feeling the hard cool stone he kissed it and held it tightly. He looked upon this jewel as if his life was held in the palm of his hands; he unclipped the diamond chain and wrapped it round his neck. Putting it behind his shirt, knowing that it was safe against his chest just as Adora came rushing down the stairs wearing an emerald and black robe. She placed her hands on both sides of his head and kissed him. He grabbed her hands tightly and hugged her as they both felt themselves pulled into disapparation.

Still grasping his love, Artemis appeared in the dark foyer of the abandoned mansion. Every sound the two made echoed ominously on the dark tile floors. The two whirled around the entrance of the home looking for the slightest indication of their child. Artemis whished Adora behind him then called out with angelic rage.

"TOM!" His voice resonated in the mausoleum of intolerance. His shoes clattered on the floor as he pulled Adora by the hand through the house, using his wand to flick open doors. As he finally came to the back of the estate he saw through the glass windows and saw into the courtyard, in the darkness among the statues stood Tom, behind him was Amadeus strapped with chains to a statue. Artemis descended the back porch stairs leading to the gardens; Adora behind him crying out in pleading protest.

"Oh God please don't hurt him!"

"SILENCE!" Yelled Tom. Artemis held Adora back behind him, her wailing in despair.

"Let him go Tom, this is between you and me!" Tom stood ominously in his black robes not saying a word. "Here take the wand, you can have it!"

"I don't want that wand! I WANT YOU DEAD!" He shouted into the black night. There was piercing silence, only the sounds of crickets and the silent panicky whimpers of Adora for her son. Artemis stood forward.

"Alright Tom."

"NO!" Adora shouted grasping onto Artemis arms.

"I die and you let the boy go, and you free Adora from your grasp, agreed?" Tom looked to Artemis then cracked a villainous smile.

"Agreed." Artemis turned to Adora.

"Adora, take these."

"No you can't! I can't loose you again!"

"Adora stop it! It's the only way! Now take these." Artemis handed him the wand of Beethoven, and took from his back the staff containing the 10th symphony. "Take these to my summer estate, you remember don't you?" Adora nodded her head, crying uncontrollable tears of grief. "Bring this as well", he said pulling from his shirt the heart pendant, laying it gently in her hands and wrapping her fingers around it. He leaned forward and kissed her, kissed her tenderly but pulling away, thinking somehow the longer they held on the more painful this would become. Artemis turned to face Tom, his wand drawn. He stepped forward, breathing calmly, sensing the end, allowing it to freely come. None of them spoke a word. There was no tricks to be had here, no clever plans. The only escape was death, a new life for his child, and freedom for the woman he loves. He came down to the level of Tom, Lord Voldemort as he was now known, remembering the man he used to trust. He had planned for twenty years to kill this him and destroy the evil that he coerced Artemis to do. Hoping to cleanse himself of his past, and now the only way, was to die. He held out his arms opening, looking to the sky. Breathing his very last breathe.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

...and Artemis Gridlock was dead.


End file.
